heh eee, THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, INCLUDING ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY. (BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘MAGAZINE OF BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY,’ AND OF LOUDON AND CHARLESWORTH’S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, ) CONDUCTED BY Siz W. JARDINE, Barr., F.L.S.—P. J. SELBY, Esq., F.LS,, GEORGE JOHNSTON, M.D., CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., F.LS., F.G.S., J. H. BALFOUR, M.D., Prof. Bot. Edinburgh, AND RICHARD TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.8. sa} \ VOL. IIl.—SECOND SERIES. /o™ "4a “a ees \ ae}. Soe Ketional Museu™+- , LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY R. AND J. E. TAYLOR. SOLD BY S. HIGHLEY; SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL; SHERWOOD AND CO.; W. WOOD, TAVISTOCK STREET ; BAILLIERE, REGENT STREET, AND PARIS: LIZARS, AND MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH: CURRY, DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN. 1849. #Qmnes res create sunt divine sapientie et potentiz testes, divitie felicitatis humane :—ex harum usu bonitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia Domini; ex ceconomia in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia majestatis elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper zstimata; a veré eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris semper inimica fuit.”— LINNZUS. sh ot Go 5 5 oo pa WINS bein nonce Obey our summons ; from their deepest dells The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild And odorous branches at our feet ; the Nymphs That press with nimble step the mountain thyme And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed, But scatter round ten thousand forms minute Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush That drinks the rippling tide: the frozen poles, Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread, The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, All, all to us unlock their secret stores And pay their cheerful tribute. J. TAytor, Norwich, 1818. CONTENTS OF VOL. III. [SECOND SERIES. ] NUMBER XIII. ~ I. On some new genera and species of Paleeozoic Corals and Forami- nifera. By Frepericx M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &. ......cccseeeee 1 II. Note on the Colour of a Freshwater Loch. By Georce Dicxte, M.D., Lecturer on Zoology and Botany in the University and King’s Meme OL A DETUEEM «cs teseeaticp ans sy dope eedecenaonseptacbaseartancdots ae esses, 20 III. Stirpes Cryptogamz Sarnienses ; or Contributions towards the Cryptogamic Flora of Guernsey. By the Rev. ‘Tl. Sarwey, Oswestry... 22 IV. On the Structure and Habits of the Orobanchacee. By Artuur Page BERR Cer DEE. a woe ota foctis Sedat temas cecncsie ca rteanocibnas oe tea eee 29 V. Remarks on the British Geodephaga; with Notes on some Scyd- menide and Pselaphide. By Dr. H. ScHAUM .1.....scccccesesceesescees 32 VI. On the mode of growth in Oscillatoria and allied genera. By Jonn Ranrs, MR.C.8. Penzance: «i sccDtecewterevstnctaceneedost neds beacons 39 VII. On the Structure of the Teeth of some Fossil Fish of the Car- boniferous Period. By Prof. OWEN, F.R.S. .........sscecesenecssescoees 41 VIII. Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Watker, F.L.S. ... 43 IX. Observations on Mr. M‘Coy’s description of the Tail of Diplo- pterus. By Sir Puttie pe Matpas Grey Ecerron, Bart. .......0000. 53 New Books :—An Introduction to Botany, by J. Lindley, Ph.D., F.R.S.—Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia during the years 1844-5 & 6, &c., by Captain Charles Sturt, F.L.S. : with a Botanical Appendix by Robert Brown, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.L.S., and Ornithological Notices by John Gould, F.R.S.—Ar- ran and Excursions to Arran, with reference to the Natural Hi- story of the Island, by the Rev. David Landsborough ......... 55—61 Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh; Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh ; Zoological Society ........s+ssss.seee eee 61—73 Journey to explore the Province of Para ; How to prevent the Attacks iv CONTENTS. Page of the Bed-bug, Cimex lectularius, by John Blackwall, F.L.S.; Description of Sarcoptilus, a new genus of Pennatulide, by J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. &. ; Remarkable Instances of Instinct, or In- telligence, in Animals, by Dr. Warwick ; Note on the genus Bra- chycladium ; Prevention of Bugs, by ‘Thomas Stratton, R.N.; Me- teorological Observations and Table .....seecssseeeensenesseees ... 74—80 NUMBER XIV. X. The Musci and Hepaticz of the Pyrenees. By Ricuarp Spruce, Esq. (With three Plates.) ......s.ss0eesenes gees obckne samp euseneeseuenmmenes 81 XI. Alge Orientales :—Descriptions of new species belonging to the genus Sargassum. By R. K. Grevinie, LL.D. &e. (With a Plate.) 106 XII. Observations on the Minute Structure and Mode of Contraction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. By W. Murray Dosie, F.B.S.E. (With AIPIALCL) Os sve carasvecacs ocscsseebsacecscrpesteusctescncesssintsvnrte anges eauemuiieny 109 XIII. On some new genera and species of Palzozoic Corals and Foraminifera. By Frepericx M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. ...... 119 XIV. Supplementary Notices regarding the Dodo and its Kindred. Nos. 1, 2,3. By H. E. Strrickranp, M.A., F.G.S. ...ccsceeeeereseseoee 136 XV. Reply to Sir Philip Egerton’s Letter on the Tail of Diplopterus. By Frepericx M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. ......scceceseersceenere 139 XVI. Reply to Prof. Owen’s Letter on the Ganoine of some Fish- teeth. By Frepericx M‘Coy, M.G.S, & N.H.S.D. &.. .....0...see00e 140 XVII. Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun Misrs, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., — ...cccececscensccsnssecssceccsccesccesscncsoseos 141 New Books :—The Treasury of Natural History, or a Popular Dic- tionary of Animated Nature, by Samuel Maunder, Esq. ......... ase L4G Proceedings of the Zoological Society; Botanical Society of Edin- burgh eee eeesueereseseeeeeees reese Ooereseeosesos CoCo rere eeeseeneseeese 148—154 On the Existence of an Ovum or Ovule as well in the Male as in the Female of Plants and Animals, producing in the one case Sper- matozoa or Pollen-grains, in the other the primitive Cells of the Embryo, by Ch. Robin, M.D.; On the Gum Kino of the Tenas- serim Provinces, by the Rev. F. Mason; Meteorological Observa- CLOTS ANG Mable iaeeescese tesa ede-sinte sea csletdeaenmeanemeas seteneras 154—160 NUMBER XV. XVIII. Observations upon several genera hitherto placed in Sola- nace@,and upon others intermediate between that family and the Sero- phulariacee. By Joun Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.LS. &e. ......ceseeeees 161 XIX. On the Anatomy of Zolis, a genus of Mollusks of the order ~ Nudibranchiata. By Ausany Hancock and Dennis Emsieton, M.D. OWVatltwo. Plates) Mamasennentan es RE NORDORIAANTIDCOOCORRCALCIACCOEC ena is ueeeanatyae 183 oO CONTENTS. Vv Page XX. Brief Notice of several Mammalia and Birds discovered by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., in Upper India. By Tuomas Horsrietp, M.D. 202 XXI. Notes on Chalcidites, and descriptions of various new species. EOP RANCES WALKER: PcliOn ds iisessddicrccseebicssiscededsdavlescoamageee so WAVES XXII. Some Account of the Storm of January in Bedfordshire. By or Wi eterna: MAG ee ec senscysades awavac bo tbo wo nw m OO © wd iS) i} ~T bo ~“ oo LOP Sree oo o Oo _ i=) Oo IO Oxia w — bol no Koo O&O i +4 OQOonr ws ole tole ae Goce aaa 25 | -yormseryg Ea *aa1ys-saryund a “yorMstyO wy : se i = = Oe “Urey “PUM *19J9MOUIIU J, *JajamMoleg a S 9 “AANZAQ) ‘asunyyy yowmpung 7v ‘uoysNo[D *—- ‘Ady 247 Ag pup SaULHS-saluaMaAc ‘asunyyr juv8anddy qo “wequncy * AA “Ady 2747 fg SNoLsog 70 ‘||BaA “AI AQ SuopuoT svau ‘NOIMSINC Jy Aja100g jounynaysozy 2y] fo Uapuvy ay, qo uosdmoUy, ‘AI 49 apyu suoywasasge jo2Foj;040aja Ar THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [SECOND SERIES.] No. 14. FEBRUARY 1849. X.—The Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. By Ricuarp Spruce*. { With three Plates. ] Berore entering upon an enumeration of the Musci and Hepa- ticee of the Pyrenees, it will be proper to indicate the sources from which it has been derived. I have not been able to find any trustworthy record of mosses gathered in the Pyrenees pre- vious to the time of Bridel, who in 1803 visited the Pyrénées Orientales and the northern part of Catalonia, where he disco- vered his Bartramia stricta, Barbula chloronotos and some others. Of Bridel’s mosses I have seen only a very few, communicated by Professor Arnott from the herbarium of M. Requien. In the ord edition of the ‘Flore Francaise’ (1815) several Pyrenean stations of mosses are recorded, on the authority of DeCandolle, Ramond, Dufour and Grateloup. The two botanists last-named have since that period continued to pay occasional botanical visits to the Pyrenees, almost up to the present time, and to their liberality I owe specimens of such mosses as they collected. In 1825 the eastern and central Pyrenees were visited by our distinguished countrymen, Messrs.G. Bentham and G. A. Walker- Arnott, and the latter gentleman has kindly communicated to me specimens of nearly all his Pyrenean mosses, a few only of which he has noticed in “ A Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees,” inserted in the ‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal’ for April 1826. Still later, from 1828 to 1830, the eastern Pyrenees were at various times partially explored by Dr. C. Montagne, whose knowledge of general Cryptogamy is unrivalled, and his discoveries, including numerous lichens and not a few mosses, were announced by himself in the ‘ Archives de Bota- nique,’ tom. i. (1833), under the title of “ Notice sur les Plantes * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Jan. 11th, 1849, Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. ui. 6 82 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. Cryptogames récemment découvertes en France,” &c. Most of these I have had the opportunity of examining. In 1835, Dr. Grateloup began to publish in the ‘ Actes de la Société Lin-. néenne de Bordeaux,’ tom. vil., a “ Cryptogamie Tarbellienne, ou Description succincte des Plantes cryptogames qui croissent aux environs de Daz, dans le Dépt. des Landes,” in which were to be comprised all the Cryptogamia growing within 25 leagues of Dax, a district which would include the extreme Western Py- renees ; but it proceeded no farther than the publication of the Characez, Filices and Hepaticz, for specimens of most of which I am under obligation to Dr.Grateloup. About the year 1843, MM. Philippe and de Lugo, two botanists residing at Bagnéres-de- Bigorre, began to collect the mosses and Hepaticee of the neigh- bourmg mountains, and on the occasion of my visit to that city, two years afterwards, they put into my hands, without reserve, specimens of all they had succeeded in finding. A few mosses have also at different times been gathered in the Pyrenees by MM. des Moulins, Durieu, Gaston-Sacaze, and probably by others of whom I have not heard, and of whose labours I cannot there- fore make that honourable mention which is their due. In 1845 came my own visit to the Pyrenees, undertaken principally (though not solely) for the purpose of studying the Musci and Hepatic, and extending through a period of nearly eleven months. It will not be without use if I here briefly retrace my steps, as some repetition will be thereby avoided, and an oppor- tunity will be afforded of indicating the position of certain loca- lities, the names of which are of frequent recurrence in my cata- logue, though too obscure to be found in an ordinary map*. I arrived at Pau, the chef-liew of the Dept. of the Basses- Pyrénées, and the ancient capital of Béarn, in the early part of May 1845, and my first herborization in the Pyrenees was made on the 13th of the same month. My excursions comprised, be- sides the woods, &c. adjoining the town of Pau, the villages of Jurangon, Gélos, Rontignon and Narcastet, lying on the south- ern bank of the Gave de Pau, with the valleys running up from them to the southward, among what may be called the skirts of the Pyrenees ; and the village of Bilhéres, lying south of the same river. From the 29th to the 31st were devoted to a visit to Oloron, at the entrance of the Vallée d’Aspe, along which runs one of the most frequented roads into Spain. On the 11th of June I again left Pau for St. Sever, in the Landes, on a visit to Dr. Léon Dufour, the eminent naturalist, where eight days were usefully spent in exploring the neighbouring Jandes, especially * For a fuller account of my tour consult the ‘ London Journal of Botany,’ vol. v. p. 184. Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 83 those of Mugriet (Commune of Souprosse) a few miles distant from St. Sever, and on the opposite side of the Adour. Return- ing thence to Pau, I again started on the 25th for Laruns, a little town lying about 26 miles to the southward, near the up- per extremity of the Vallée d’Ossau, and midway between the Eaux Bonnes and the Eaux Chaudes. Here commenced my ac- quaintance with the real Pyrenees. My excursions included the Pic de Ger and the Montagne Verte, the former overlooking the Eaux Bonnes from the south and the latter from the north; the Gorge de Hourat, conducting to the Eaux Chaudes, and watered by the Gave de Gabas ; the Gave de Valentin, which uniting at Laruns with the Gave de Gabas, forms the Gave d’Ossau; the village of Béost and the hameau of Bagés (celebrated as the re- sidence of Gaston-Sacaze, the shepherd-botanist). Descending the Vallée d’Ossau and again taking Pau in my way, I proceeded on the 8th of July to Argélez, im the Dept. of the Hautes Pyré- nées. The following day was given to the herborization of Pierre- fitte, on the south side of the valley (or rather plain) of Argélez, and at the confluence of the gorges of Luz and Cauterets. On the 11th I ascended to Cauterets, where I remained until the end of the month. My excursions from it were to the Pont d’Espagne and Lac de Gaube, ascending the Val de Jéret along the banks of the Gave de Marcadaou ; to the valleys of Lutour and Combascou, and to Mont Lizé. On the 2nd of August, accompanied by Dr. Southby, a compatriot enthusiastic in the pursuit of natural history, I crossed the central chain by the Port de Cauterets to the baths of Penticosa in Aragon. In this excursion, which oe- cupied four days, numerous interesting flowers, but scarcely any mosses, were added to my collection. Returning to Cauterets, and descending from thence to Argélez, on the 8th I again ascended to Luz, at the entrance of the valley of Baréges. From Luz I visited the celebrated Chaos and Cirque de Gavarnie, the Vallée d’Estaubé, &c., but my bryological collections were not much swelled thereby. On the 20th I crossed the Tourmalet to Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, in the valley of the Adour. My stay was but short, for the present, and my only excursion of importance was to the flowery Mont Lhieris. The 27th and 28th of the same month were taken up in walking through the mountains, by way of the Hourquette d’Aspin, the Vallée d’Aure and the Port de Peyresourde, to Bagnéres-de-Luchon, in the Dept. of the Haute Garonne. During wy stay here of five weeks, I explored the whole of the magnificent Vallée du Lys (lateral to the valley of Luchon) with its four lakes and twenty-four cascades, and [| ascended the lofty mountain of Crabioules (mountain of crabes or izards) which bounds it on the west, as far as the snow-line on the Ist and 2nd of October. Before this time I had visited the 6* 84. Mr.R. Spruce en the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. mountain of Superbagnéres, which rises from the back of the town, the gorge of Esquierry (‘le jardin des Pyrénées”’) ; the Lacs d’Oo (Lae de Séculéjo and Lac d’Espingo) lymg between Mont Crabioules and the Vallée d’Aure; the Vallée de Barbe (in which is the Bois de Gouerdére), and, passing through the Port de Portillon at its extremity, the upper part of the Vallée d’Aran in Catalonia; and on the 10th, 11th and 12th of September, passing through the Bois de Sajust and the Port de Bénasque (in the central chain), I had ascended the Maladetta m Aragon. Leaving Bagnéres-de-Luchon and the Haute Garonne on the Ath of October, I returned to Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, and occupied myself until nearly the end of the month in explormg its envi- rons, by which my collection of pleurocarpous mosses was much enriched. The localities examined were the rocks of Bédat and Salut, close by the town ; Mont Lhieris and the woods of Gerde and Asté at its base; the Gorge de Labassere; the Vallée de Lesponne with Lac Léhou (otherwise Lac Bleu), and a tributary valley (Ardalos) extending to the base of the terminal cone of the Pie du Midi. The autumn being unusually prolonged, and the summits still clear of snow, I undertook another expedition to the Basses Pyrénées, and on the Ist of November proceeded again to Laruns, where i remained until fairly driven away by the coming of winter. Besides the localities visited in summer from this station, I now examined the Vallée de Béost, which leads across the Col de Louvie to the Vallée d’Argélez; the upper part of the Gave de Valentin towards the Col de Tortes; the mountain (Goursi) which shades Laruns on the south ; and Gabas, near the base of the Pic du Midi. Driven from the mountains, my next destination was, by way of Pau, to Dax (Aque Auguste Tarbellice) in the Landes (Ager Syrticus), where I arrived on the 18th of November. In the midst of almost unceasing rain I vi- sited in this rich district the ophitic rocks of St. Pandelon on the banks of the Luy (a tributary of the Adour), the chalk rocks of Tercis, and the woods of Saubagnac and La Torte. Having de- voted a fortnight to a re-examination of the neighbourhood of Pau, I returned early in December to Bagnéres to winter. In the Pyrenees, as throughout nearly all the rest of Hurope, the winter of 1845-6 was remarkably mild, and by the month of February the lower mountains were quite clear of snow. I availed myself of this circumstance to explore the district almost com- pletely, and in one instance to make, in company with M. Phi- lippe, an excursion of four days (from the 5th to the 8th of Fe- bruary) into the heart of the mountains, for the purpose of ex- amining the back of the Pic de Mont-Aigu and the Vallée de Castelloubon (otherwise V. de Gazos), which is separated by only a narrow ridge from the valleys of Luz and Argélez. Even at Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 85 that season we were able to reach an altitude of 7000 feet, and might easily have gone higher, but the ground at that height, though almost clear of snow, was frozen to the depth of several inches, and the waterfalls were changed into sheets of ice. The chief localities examined near Bagnéres, and not previously named, are the forests of Transoubat and of L’Escaladieu (the latter on the road to Toulouse); the valleys of Campan, Serris and Trébons ; the Bois de Lagaillaste and the Camp de César, both near the village of Pouzac ; the Cétes schisteux of Loucrup and the Bois de Montgaillard, on the road to Lourdes. These examinations enabled me to add extensively to the list of mosses previously observed by MM. Philippe and ‘de Lugo. Finally quitting Bagnéres early in March, a last visit to Pau rendered my collection of the mosses of the Western Pyrenees still more complete ; and in proceeding thence to Paris, two days spent at St. Sever with the excellent Dufour, afforded me rarities unob- served the preceding year. i In this résumé of my wanderings I have avoided alluding to the species collected, but it will be seen, by tracing my track on the map, that I executed a network of journeys sufficient to ex- More pretty fully the tract of mountaims traversed, extending from the Vallée d’Aspe on the west to the Vallée d’Aran on the east, and to enable me to state with considerable confidence the amount and distribution of species within these limits. Since my return from the Pyrenees I have had a few additional species and habitats from my friend Philippe, and also from M. Schimper, who passed through part of the Pyrenees in 1847 on his way into Spain. It must in conclusion be acknowledged, that it is only botanists resident in the Pyrenees who have it in their power to present to the world a complete flora, whether Phanerogamic or Crypto- gamic, of these mountains. Botanical geography is a subject that can be but very imperfectly studied in the cabinet, and in sitting down to arrange the materials collected on a distant ex- pedition, one always finds some deficiency, some essential obser- vation omitted, which, to a person on the spot, might be sup- plied by travelling possibly only a few paces. General considerations on the structure, &c. of the Pyrenees.— The Pyrenees may be aptly compared to an immense barrier, raised by nature’s hand for the separation of two nations, and extending from sea to sea. The transversal ridges which spring here and there from the central chain may be considered as the buttresses, or as the outworks of this great fortification. The area occupied by these mountains hes between 3° 20! KE. and 2° 0! W. long. (from Greenwich), and from a little north of the 43rd parallel nearly to the 42nd. Their direction, from the 86 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay, is nearly W. by N.; and their length, from Cape Creux to the Port des Passages, is about 270 English miles. It is well known that the Pyrenees have at the latter limit reached but half their length, and that their con- tinuation constitutes the elevated ridges of Bizcaya, Asturias and Gallicia, up to their real termination at Cape Finisterre ; at pre- sent, however, we have only to do with that portion which sepa- rates France from Spain, and to which the name “ Pyrenees”? is popularly limited. When attentively considered, the Pyrenees will be found to consist of two chains: the western, which increases in altitude from the ocean to the Maladetta (10,722 ft.*), its highest point, whence it rapidly sinks to the opposite sea; the eastern com- mencing north of the Maladetta, with hills of slight elevation, increases in height as it approaches the Mediterranean, not far from which is Mont Canigou (8652 ft.), one of its loftiest sum- mits. From the point of dislocation is thrown off to the north- ward a remarkable embranchment, which separates the basin of the Garonne from that of the Adour, giving birth to the latter river, and stretches through the Dept. of the Hautes Pyrénées a little way into that of Gers: its highest point is the Pic du Midi de Bigorre (9000 ft.). Some geologists (as M. Reboul) have traced several distinct axes of elevation in the Pyrenees; and M. Elie de Beaumont supposes that they have been upheaved at four distinct epochs, though the great mass owes its elevation to only the third of these, which was posterior to the chalk formation. The fourth epoch of elevation is perceivable only in the localities where serpentine (ophate) appears. The loftiest summits of the Pyrenees are nearly all out of the central chain ; the Maladetta, the culminating point of the whole range, is to the southward of it; as is also Mont Perdu, the next in altitude. The depressions (called “Ports” in the medial ridge, and usually “ Cols” in the transversal ones) are all of con- siderable elevation, often from 7000 to 9000 feet, and there are only two passes practicable for carriages, one at each extremity of the chain. On the southern or Spanish side the ascent is more abrupt than on the northern side, where two ridges (at least) parallel to the medial ridge, and yielding to it very little in height, are usually distinctly traceable. The Spanish Pyrenees are also watered by fewer streams, have fewer lakes, and are less clad with forests than the French. On both sides the valleys are in most cases steep; the basins we successively encounter in * The altitudes are all in French measures, and I have given very few, for besides that I had not the opportunity of determining any myself, the altitude of the same mountain, as stated by different observers, often varies considerably. ; Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 87 ascending them are usually small, and occupied either by lakes, or by alluvium deposited by the descending streams. In only two cases have I seen hollows filled with peat, one on Mont Goursi in the Basses Pyrénées, and the other at the head of a small valley, lateral to the Vallée de Lesponne in the Hautes Pyrénées. The line of perpetual congelation in the Pyrenees, I assume from my own observations to be at an average height of nearly 9000 feet, or more than 1000 feet higher than in the Alps. One authority, now before me, fixes it at 8718 feet, and Ramond estimated it at from 8100 to 8400 feet, which I do not hesitate to say is much too low. It varies however considerably with the degree of exposure and even with the form of a mountain, and the snow is uniformly found to melt less, and consequently to descend lower in an eastern exposure than elsewhere. Hence, even on the highest mountains, the band of perpetual snow is not more than from one to two thousand feet broad. The streams which take their rise on the southern slopes of the Pyrenees flow nearly all into the Ebro. On the northern slopes, the space lying opposite the western half of this drainage of the Ebro is occupied by the Adour and its tributaries, while the space corresponding to the eastern half, extending from the source of the Adour to that of the Arriége, is occupied by the upper part of the basin of the Garonne. In the extreme eastern angle, on both the northern and southern side, are various small streams which run directly into the Mediterranean. This drain- age of the rivers would seem to afford us the basis of a division of the Pyrenees, for the purpose of estimating the distribution of plants on their surface ; but on trial such a division will be found intractable, and I prefer another which separates the plants into more distinct groups, and corresponds very nearly with that adopted by the botanistes sédentaires of the Pyrenees. I divide the Pyrenees into three districts, the Western, the Central, and the Kastern, the limits of which I proceed to define. The Central Pyrenees are comprised between the upper part of the Gave de Pau, from its source at the Cirque de Gavarnie as far as to the bridge of Lourdes, on the west; and Mont Mala- detta and the Vallée d’Aran, watered by the infant Garonne, on the east; or from themeridian of Greenwich* to about 50 minutes of east longitude. This district includes, in France, the upper part of the Dept. of the Haute Garonne and most of the upper part of the Hautes Pyrénées; in Spain, part of Aragon and a very small angle of Catalonia. It is watered by the upper * The village of Luz, in the valley of Baréges, is exactly in the longitude of Greenwich. 88 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. branches of the Adour and Garonne, and contains the highest mountains and the deepest valleys in the Pyrenees, as well as the most extensive forests. Glaciers of great extent are found in this district only ; the principal are those which occupy the northern slopes of the Maladetta and Crabioules. The Western Pyrenees extend from the Central to the ocean at Bayonne and St. Jean de Luz. They include, in France, the Dept. of the Basses Pyrénées and part of the Landes, stretching as far as the Adour at St. Sever and Dax, besides a small portion of the Hautes Pyrénées; in Spain, a small part of Navarre and most of the northern part of Aragon. This district extends farther to the north than either of the others; it is consequently colder at the same altitude, and in the sandy plains bordering on the Adour and the ocean the climate is much more humid. The Eastern Pyrenees are comprised between the Central and the Mediterranean. In France they occupy the whole length of the Depts. of Arriége and Pyrénées Orientales ; in Spain, nearly all the northern part of Catalonia. This district is the most southern, the warmest and driest, and the most denuded of forests of the whole three*. A rough sketch of the mineralogy of the Pyrenees, so far as it is connected with the distribution of plants, will conduce to a more complete idea of the peculiarities of these divisions. The igneous rocks of the Pyrenees do not, as in the Alps, constitute some of the loftiest mountains, and the highest point at which I am aware of the existence of granite is on the summit of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau (9186 ft.), unless it attains the summit of Néouvielle (9696 ft.), as some maintain. In the eastern part of the Western Pyrenees it constitutes the mass of the mountains above Cauterets, especially those which include the valleys of Combascou, Lutour and Jéret, and the Lac de Gaube; from whence it passes (by the Vallée d’Azun, &c.) into the upper part of the Vallée d’Ossau, where I have observed it from below the Eaux Chaudes to the Pic du Midi, and on the circumjacent moun- tains, in which it is the predomimant rock. From the Vallée d’Ossau it dips at once so profoundly as not to be observed in the deepest parts of the Vallée d’Aspe, or in any of the valleys to the westward, until it reappears near Bayonne, in the massif of Cambo. In the Central Pyrenees it appears in the valley of Baréges (continued from the valley of Cauterets) and about the base of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre ; but, with this latter excep- * T should add, that great part of the Arriéye is still a terra incognita to me, and I especially commend its exploration to resident cryptogamists. Probably, from its containing some very lofty summits, as the Pics of Mont- calm and Estats, both its character and its vegetable products would require the western part of it to be annexed to our Central! district. Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrences. 89 tion, it rarely attains the surface in the neighbourhood of Bag- néres-de-Bigorre. Near Bagnéres-de-Luchon it appears in most of the valleys and at the base of the mountains. From the Central Pyrenees it passes into the Eastern, where, especially in the Dept. of Pyr. Orientales, it constitutes a very large proportion of the surface. In the granite I include gneiss, and possibly some other rocks whose internal structure is of nearly the same cha- racter. Mica-slate (schiste-micacé) I have observed in the Western Pyrenees only in the valley of Cauterets, especially at the base of the Monné and on Mont Lizé. Thence it passes into the Cen- tral district, where it constitutes the terminal cone of the Pie du Midi, the Pic de Mont-Aigu, and all the adjacent mountains. The wall of rock which supports the waters of Lac Lehou is of mica-schist, and in general the embankments of all the lakes in the Pyrenees are of this rock or of granite. In the Eastern Py- renees the mountains on the western side of the river Aude are of mica-schist, and I am not aware of its occurrence elsewhere. Slate (schiste-argileux) may be regarded as the most important rock im the Pyrenees, appearing as it does in every part of them. In the W. Pyrenees I have observed it in the Vallée d’Ossau ; also near Argélez, where it is the predominant rock, extending from thence along the gorge of Luz to the valley of Baréges, where it meets the mica-schist and other primary rocks. Ascending from Argélez by the valley of Cauterets, it extends (though not unin- terruptedly) to the very summit of the central chain. The Port de Cauterets and all the other passes which have fallen under my notice are (as in the Alps) excavated in slate-rock, which is often very siliceous, and cleaves with difficulty in at least two direc- tions. From Cauterets the slate passes into the Central Pyrenees, descending almost to their bases, and attaining the ridge of the central chain, as at the Port de Bénasque, &c. In the Eastern Pyrenees it would seem to occur chiefly about the base of the mountains, skirting the granitic nucleus. The lower mountains in the Pyrenees, whose chief constituent is clay-slate or grauwacke, have commonly rounded summits, and are covered with herbage ; but the loftier ones, and especially those of the medial ridge, have a bolder aspect ; their sides are furrowed by deep ravines, and their summits are serrated and peaked. When closely examined they are found to be in a state of continual decomposition and degradation, probably from the dissemination of iron pyrites in these rocks. Transition-linestone (calcaire de transition) constitutes also its proportion of the surface of the Pyrenees. In the W. Pyrenees it forms the principal part of the ridge of the central chain, lying to the south of the Pic du Midi d’Ossau. From the val- 90 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musct and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. ley of Cauterets it would seem to be entirely absent, but it re- appears in the Central Pyrenees in the great valley of Baréges, where it extends from the bottom of the valley of Gédre to a little beyond the lake of Gavarnie, and plunges under the immense mass of alpine limestone of the Marboré. The lower hills near B.-de-Bigorre, especially the Pic de Lhieris, are formed almost entirely of it, and here it often presents itself in thin beds, alter- nating with clay-slate. In the upper part of the valley of Lu- chon, and in all the surrounding mountains, I do not recollect to have observed any calcareous rock. In the EH. Pyrenees, transition-limestone would seem to occur amongst the granitic” formations in detached masses (accompanied however by slate) chiefly in the neighbourhood of Villefranche and Prats de Mollo, and in the Corbiéres. The ascents of mountains of transition- limestone are interrupted by escarpments, which are rarely of great elevation. Of secondary rocks, the only one which I shall have occasion to mention is oolitic limestone (calcaire alpin). To this rock the Pyrenees owe some of their grandest features, as it forms escarp- ments in some instances considerably exceeding a thousand feet in altitude, as at the Cirque de Gavarnie, the termination of the Vallée d’Estaubé, &c.; but wherever it attains the alpine region (as in the instances just cited) I have found it quite destitute of mosses, probably from its exposed position, above the region of forests. It is only in the lower hills of the Western Pyrenees, especially near Pau, where it occurs as a conglomerate, that the alpine limestone has afforded me any cryptogamia. Some of Dr. Arnott’s mosses from the Pyr. Orientales, judging from the fragments attached to the specimens, have been gathered on alpine limestone. Trap-rocks I have remarked in the Pyrenees in small detached masses, but I have gathered cryptogamia only on a rapidly de- composing ophite at Labassére near B.-de-Bigorre, and at St. Pandelon near Dax. This brief sketch of the chief rocks of the Pyrenees is confessedly very imperfect ; it is also designedly superficial, for it is only by the surface-rock that plants whose roots rarely penetrate to the depth of an inch can possibly be influenced. The position, too, of any rock in the geological series cannot be said to have any- thing to do with the distribution of plants, though the presence of a certain mineral is in many cases essential to their existence. From my observations in the Pyrenees and elsewhere, I have ascertained pretty accurately what mosses require a matrix con- taining carbonate of lime; these will be specified as they occur. They have obviously no preference for primitive, transition, or secondary limestone, but they are always most abundant and Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 91 luxuriant on limestones of which the surface rapidly decomposes ; hence the older limestones, which in the Pyrenees are often trans- formed into marble, are never in that state prolific in mosses. Of those species which absolutely refuse to vegetate on limestone (and they are not very numerous), some are found on a great variety of rocks ; but probably when carefully examined these rocks would be found to contain some one element, essential to all the species making choice of them. Silex, for example, seems necessary to certain Grimmie ; and there are a few mosses rarely found except on rocks containing a large proportion of iron. It is scarcely necessary to mention that many mosses are never found on rocks at all, but by exception, some preferring the bark of living trees (cortical) and others decayed trunks or logs (dignal). Distribution of Musci and Hepatice in the Pyrenees, according to latitude and longitude.—The distribution of plants on any given portion of the earth’s surface requires to be estimated both hori- zontally and vertically, and if the surface to be considered extend through several degrees of latitude, the two modes will require to be exhibited both separately and in combination. It is ob- vious that a comparison of the vegetation of any portion of the earth with that of any other portion, or of the whole, must always be incomplete, until the whole of the earth’s surface shall have been exammed. Hence the following account of the dis- tribution of Musci and Hepaticze in the Pyrenees can only be re- garded as approximatively correct. I enumerate 390 Musci and 91 Hepatice in the Pyrenees. Taking the whole number of Musci known in the world to be 2400 (which is rather over than under the limit), and of Hepatice to be 1200, this would show the Pyrenees to possess nearly one-sixth of the entire family of Musci and but one-thirteenth of the Hepatic, or twice as great a proportion of the former as of the latter. But this proportion is very nearly what we should arrive at in comparing the Musci and Hepatice of Europe with those of the rest of the world, so much more numerous are Hepaticz in the southern than in the northern hemisphere. The species which attain absolutely their northern limit in the Pyrenees seem to be only the four following :— Hypnum aureum. Tortula czespitosa. Bryum platyloma. Southbya tophacea. Those which attain their southern limit are apparently much more numerous; but when the mountains of Spain come to be fully explored, the list will probably be somewhat lessened ; and I ought to acknowledge that, possessing no complete list of the Cryptogamia of Italy, I may have assigned the Pyrenees as the southern limit for a few species which in reality extend farther 92 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. south in Italy. So far however as I can ascertain, the follow- ing species have their southern limit in the Pyrenees :— Hypnum umbratum. Pyrenaicum. medium. plicatum. Aulacomnion androgynum. flagellare. Physcomitrium acuminatum. striatulum. Tortula alpina, ceespitosum, latifolia. crassinervium, aciphylla. Vaucheri. papillosa, pumilum. Dicranum fulvun. campestre. longifolium. Starkii. Sauteri. Miihlenbeckii. Arctoa fulvella. pratense. Anodus Donnianus. Haldanianum. Orthotrichum Bruchii. heteropterum. rivulare. catenulatum. urnigerum. Sprucii. Hedwigia imberbis. trichophorum. Grimmia anodon. planifolium. curvula. Isothecium rufescens, suleata. chryseum. atrata. Leskea rostrata. Encalypta commutata. longifolia. rhabdocarpa. Anacamptodon splachnoides. Mielichoferia nitida. Catoscopium nigritum. Bartramia marchica. Bryum acuminatum. Mnium spinulosum. Polytrichum sexangulare. Fissidens grandifrons. Sarcoscyphus adustus. Alicularia compressa. Jungermannia sphzerocarpa. polymorphum. Genthiana. Zierii. cordifolia. concinnatum. Lyoni. Ludwigii. Francisci. obconicum. Lejeunia ovata, julaceum. Frullania fragilifolia. Mnium spinosum. Dumottiera irrigua. Few species can be expected to attain thew eastern limit in the Pyrenees (lying as they do on the western side of Europe), and I can find only these six, of which all but one (Fisszdens grandifrons) had been previously supposed to be confined to our own islands :— Hypnum ceespitosum. Tortula papillosa. Fissidens grandifrons. Lejeunia ovata. Frullania fragilifolia. Dumortiera irrigua. The number of Musci and Hepaticee which are not found any- where to the westward of Europe, either on the continent of America or in the intermediate islands, is considerable, and they mostly attain their western limit in the British Isles. Some species which reach their western European limit in the Pyrenees (not being found in the British Isles) reappear in N. America, under nearly the same latitude: such are Hypnum Haldanianum, Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 93 Leskea rostrata and attenuata, Physcomitrium acuminatum, Tor- tula cespitosa, Dicranum fulvum, Fissidens grandifrons, &c. Tor- tula chloronotos reappears in the isle of Teneriffe. There are only the following species whose occurrence westward of the Pyrenees has not yet been recorded :— Hypnum Pyrenaicum. Tortula inclinata. Vaucheri. Encalypta ligulata. Isothecium Philippianum. Buxbaumia indusiata. Bryum polymorphum. Plagiochila Pyrenaica. Mnium medium. Scapania apiculata. Of the few mosses which grow on the southern slope of the Pyrenees, only one species (Yortula cespitosa) was not found at all on the northern. The Spanish Pyrenees have in fact a pecu- harly arid aspect (to the eye of a cryptogamist), and correspond well with the distant view I have had of the dry and naked sierras of Spain*. If we now compare the three districts of the Pyrenees, above defined, one with another, we find a considerable number of species peculiar to each. The following mosses, gathered in the Western Pyrenees, were none of them observed in the Central and Eastern Pyrenees. [Those species marked with a (+) are peculiar to the sandy plains of the Landes. | Hypnum strigosum. Physcomitrium ericetorum. megapolitanum fF. acuminatum. czespitosum fF. Tortula ambigua fT. trichophorum. papillosa. Catoscopium nigritum. latifolia. Bryum Tozeri. czespitosa. czespiticium. Trichostomum luridum. erythrocarpon. subulatum f. torquescens. Dicranum spurium. platyloma. Weisia cirrhata f. Muelleri +. Wimmeriana. Mnium spinosum. Gymnostomum calcareum. Funaria convexa Tf. Ptychomitrium pusillum, Entosthodon Templetoni t. Orthotrichum crispulum. * Cavanilles, in his ‘ Observaciones sobre la Historia Natural, &c. del Reyno de Valencia (Madrid, 1795),’ amongst all the localities which he so minutely describes, mentions but one of bryological promise, where he ob- served the solitary moss which enters into his catalogue of the plants. In speaking of the mountains of Valldigna (p. 218) he says, ‘‘ Los montes por donde estan expuestos al mediodia son secos, y que no hay fuentes en sus raices : al contrario las faldas septentrionales de todos ellos estén sembradas de sitios himedos y frondosos, y en las raices nacen fuentes abundantes. . ... Enel valle de Barig son innumerables las fuentes que nacen desde Aldaya hasta Puigmola..... En estos sitios htimedos y sombrios esta siempre viva la naturaleza, cubierto el suelo de vegetales, y casi siembre de flores : a!li se disputan las plantas el terreno. La doradilla (Ceterach), el polipodio comun, el pteris (P/. aquilina) y la jungermania allanada (Jg. complanata) occupan las hendeduras de las pefias.” 94 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. Orthotrichum patens. Southbya tophacea. urnigerum. Jungermannia curvula. Conomitrium Julianum fF. minuta. Buxbaumia aphylla f. dentata F. Sphagnum cuspidatum fF. Lejeunia ovata. compactum f. calcarea. Alicularia compressa. Frullania fragilifolia. The whole of the following were observed only in the Central Pyrenees :— Hypnum Pyrenaicum. Dicranum fulvum. flagellare. majus. aureum, faleatum. faleatum. Arctoa fulvella. Haldanianum. Campylostelium saxicola. heteropterum, Brachyodus trichodes. planifolium. Anodus Donnianus. depressum. Seligeria recurvata. Neckera pumila. Ancectangium compactum. Entodon cladorrhizans. Zygodon conoideus. insidiosus. Orthotrichum rivulare. Isothecium Philippianum. Grimmia anodon. striatum, funalis. Leskea rostrata. sulcata. longifolia. Fissidens osmundioides. Hookeria lucens. Tetrodontium Brownianum. Anacamptodon splachnoides. Sphagnum acutifolium. Bartramia marchica. squarrosum. Bryum pyriforme. Sarcoscyphus adustus. longicollum. Jungermannia Schraderi. Ludwigii. Genthiana. julaceum. pumila. concinnatum, cordifolia. cirrhatum. divaricata. Mnium lycopodioides. connivens. medium. Lophocolea minor. Dissodon Freelichianus. heterophylla. Anacalypta latifolia. Harpanthus scutatus. Tortula. vinealis. Chiloscyphus polyanthos. Ceratodon cylindricus. pallescens. Distichium inclinatum. Dumortiera irrigua. The following species are peculiar to the Hastern Pyrenees, and when the Hepatice of that district come to be ascertained, the list will undoubtedly be extended :— Hypnum fluitans. Tortula subulata, var. inermis. recognitum. gracilis. Fabronia pusilla. Orthotrichum Sturmii. Bartramia stricta. Grimmia plagiopoda. Bryum bimum. trichophylla. Tortula mucronifolia. < Polytrichum sexangulare. alpina. In glancing over the above lists, we cannot fail to be struck with the great number of species, especially of pleurocarpous mosses, peculiar to the central district. The obvious and true Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 95 explanation of this is to be found in what is above remarked re- specting the depth of the valleys and the extent and density of the forests ; pleurocarpous mosses demanding in the latitude of the Pyrenees a great deal of shade. A few species, occurring in both the Central and Eastern Pyrenees, were not observed in the Western. They are :— Hypnum reflexum. Desmatodon nervosus. Mielichoferia nitida. Dicranum longifolium. Bryum polymorphum var. cur- virens. visetum. Grimmia atrata. Timmia megapolitana. Cinclidotus aquaticus. Trichostomum tophaceum. The list of species wanting to the Eastern Pyrenees, but ob- served in both the Western and Central, is so very large that I forbear to insert it, feeling assured that when the former district comes to be explored as the two latter have been, it will be found much less deficient than this list would show it. Three mosses, Amblyodon dealbatus, Tortula marginata and cuneifolia, growing in both the Eastern and Western Pyrenees, have not hitherto been observed in the intermediate district. Were I now asked to name a moss characteristic of the whole Pyrenees, I should say at once Fissedens grandifrons, Brid. (the Dicranum palmiforme of Ramond), which is a conspicuous orna- ment wherever moist calcareous rocks are found, but is scarcely met with out of the Pyrenees*. Amongst the Hepatic, Jun- germannia acuta is scarcely less abundant, growing on the same sort of rock. The following species may also be considered re- spectively characteristic of our three districts, viz. Southbya tophacea of the Western, Isothecium Philippianum of the Central, and Bartramia stricta of the Eastern. Distribution of Musci and Hepatice in the Pyrenees, according to altitude—We come next to treat of the vertical distribution of plants, the most interesting branch of Phytostatics. In at- tempting to define our zones of altitude by natural boundaries, * It will not be out of place to mention here a curious circumstance re- lating to this moss. Its frwzt has never yet been found, and even its flowers were unknown when it was figured in the ‘ Bryologia Europza.’ A few years ago, Mr. Sullivant discovered female plants at the Falls of Niagara, and in 1846 he published the specimens in his beautiful ‘ Musci Alleghanienses ’ (no. 186). In Jan. 1846, a single tuft of male plants was found by myself and M. Philippe on a dripping limestone rock near Bagnéres, and the in- florescence will be described in the proper place. These are all the flowers that have ever been found, and it will be aremarkable circumstance if it be ascertained (as this would seem to show) that only the male plant exists in Europe, and only the female in America! The obvious conclusion would be that the plant never had fruited, and without artificial aid never would fruit. It has, however, ample means of maintaining and spreading itself without the aid of seeds. 96 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. that is, by certain plants which constitute a marked feature in them, it would seem at first sight a great advantage could we se- lect in every country the same species for this purpose ; but a little research will suffice to show us the impracticability of this. To go no farther than the Alps ; near as they are to the Pyrenees, and similar as their vegetation is in many respects, there are yet 1m- portant differences. While, for instance, there is no tree in the Alps above the region of the spruce-fir (Pinus Abies, L.), in the Pyrenees there is above this a broad and well-marked belt of Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris, L.). Again, there is in the Alps, above the limit to which the oak ascends, a zone in which the birch (Betula alba, Li.) is the predominant tree; but in the Pyrenees the birch is excessively rare ; indeed I do not at this’ moment recollect having anywhere seen it where I could be cer- tain it had not been planted, and I perceive Mr. Bentham in- cludes it in his catalogue with a mark of doubt. It would also be quite impossible to define any of our climatal zones in the Pyrenees by the distribution of the heaths, as has been done for the British Isles by Mr. Watson in his ‘ Cybele Britannica.’ The only “heath-clad hills” 1 have seen in the Pyrenees, reminding me of our English and Scottish hills, are some of the lower mountains around Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, and here the prevailing species 1s Erica vagans, though Calluna vulgaris occurs also, sparingly. The latter species seems never to penetrate far into the mountains. Again, Hrica tetralix is not found at all im the Central or Eastern Pyrenees, but only in the Western. The only heath I have remarked near Bagneéres-de-Luchon is Erica cinerea. LE. arborea is abundant in the valley of Argélez and its tributary valleys (Castelloubon, &c.), but is absent from the Cen- tral Pyrenees, while it reappears in several parts of the Eastern. It has been shown by M. des Moulins (“ Etat de la Végétation sur le Pic du Midi de Bigorre, &c.;” ‘Recueil des Actes de YAcadémie Royale de Bordeaux,’ 1844), that several species of thistles oceupy zones of altitude in the Pyrenees which are easily ascertained, and he has actually constructed a scale of the dis- tribution of fourteen species in the Pyrénées Centrales, showing the altitudes at which they appear and disappear. But were this scale taken as the basis of a climatal arrangement (which M. des Moulins by no means proposes), how would it assist us in comparing the flora of the Pyrenees with that of Lapland, where according to Wahlenberg, “ Cardui in sylvis admodum rari, omnesque fere inermes sunt. De cetero quoque plante vel frutices aculeati in Lapponia non crescunt, &c.” ? In comparing two distant portions of the earth’s surface with each other, in both of which the same plant is extensively distri- buted, we are not hence to conclude that the zone which it oc- Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 97 eupies has in both countries the same average annual temperature. Were this the case, such discrepancies as the following would be inexplicable. On Mount Etna, the beech, the birch and the Scotch fir are said to occupy the same zone. In the Pyrenees the beech ceases before the Scotch fir begins, and in the Alps the birch is said to fail even below the spruce-fir. But in Lap- land the birch extends far above the Scotch fir, and in fact ascends higher on the mountains than any other tree. Assuming the correctness of these observations (which for Lapland and the Alps cannot be questioned), we are bound to conclude that there are peculiarities of constitution in certain species which enable them to ascend proportionally higher in one latitude than in another *. In other words, an alpine flora is not necessarily an arctic flora, in its character. Hence the saying of Linnzeus, “ Plantee diversze indicant altitudinem perpendicularem terre,” must be regarded not as an aviom but asa problem, the complete solution of which still remains to be effected. It will readily be admitted that all our artificial arrangements, * The discussion of this tdiosyncrasy would demand an entire volume, but Wahlenberg’s explanation of it (Flora Lapponica, Introd.) is worth quoting, and should be borne in mind in comparing the flora of the Pyrenees or of the Alps with that of Lapland. “ Valde probabile mihi videtur a calore meridiano vegetationis gradum przcipue pendere ”’(p. xlix, 1. c.)—“ Temperies tantum illa estivalis in vegetatione producenda efticax, constituit clima, ejusque gradus determinat.” (p. lii.)—*‘ Alize plantze longam magis, guam ca- lidam estatem sibi exposcunt: ubi temperatura zstivalis media per tres men- ses gradum 8°°5 (Centigr.) haud attingit, ibi hordeum haud ad maturitatem pervenire potest. Hoc quidem jamdudum infra Enontekis contingit ; sed nihilominus tamen arbores variz zstate brevi et calida hujus regionis con- tent sunt: Betule enim et Salices alpes versus longe altius late propa- gantur. Arbores conifer fere ac Hordeum zstatem longiorem quamquam temperatiorem, requirunt, itaque longe altius ascendunt in alpibus Helve- ticis quam Betula, &c. Ex observationibus thermometricis allatis constat, estatem in alpibus Helveticis, etiamsi temperatior sit, fere longiorem esse, guam in alpibus Lapponicis; et pro certo scimus, temperaturam mediam omnium mensium per totum annum eo magis zequabilem esse in montibus Andium Americe meridionalis, et igitur omnes arbores, calidiorem quam longiorem zstatem requirentes, ibi crescere desinunt duplo longius infra limitem nivalem quam apud nos; sed Hordeum aliaque Cerealia temperie moderata 7 vel 8 graduum contenta, si ea modo longior sit, duplo altius versus limitem nivalem ibi adscendunt quam omnes arbores.”’ (p. liii.) It is also well known that some plants will bear forcing, that is, will sur- vive and flourish under constant excitement and irritation, much better than others ; hence we could hardly expect any plant which will not bear some degree of forcing, to thrive in the rapid summer, with its long days and proportionally great meridional heat, of countries bordering on the Arctic circle; should it even subsist through the rigorous winter of that region. I am sensible how much the absence of exact thermometrical observa- tions takes away from the completeness of this sketch of part of the flora of the Pyrenees. I have none of my own to adduce, except a few made at the foot of the Western Pyrenees in the month of June, when I found the meridional temperature to often exceed 90° Fahrenheit. g Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iu. 7 98 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. whether phytostatical or phytological, are imperfect; yet they have all their use in placing the same object before us under different points of view. As regards the Pyrenees, I have judged it best under all the circumstances to adopt the climatal arrangement sanctioned by the usage of the most eminent resident botanists. The first exposition of this is to be found in the writings of Ramond, one of the earliest observers in geographical botany. He ascertained that the oak (Quercus robur) ascended from the plains to the height of 1600 metres ; that the beech (Fagus syl- vatica) occupied a zone of from 600 to 1800 metres; the fir (Pinus Abies) and the yew (Taxus communis) a zone of from 1400 to 2000 metres; and that the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris) commencing at the latter limit, ascended in its smaller forms (especially that called Pinus Mughus by Jacquin) as high as 2400 metres. Above this limit (he observes) there are no more trees. Here commence shrubs, with dry leaves, and mostly pro- cumbent or prostrate stems, which are concealed under the snow during the winter. Such are Rhododendron ferrugineum, various species of Daphne, Passerina and Globularia, Salix herbacea and reticulata, &c. Leaving these, we meet humbie herbs with ~ perennial roots, leaves in rosettes and mostly naked stems: first in the series are Gentiana campestris, Primula villosa, Saxifraga longifolia, Aizoon, &e.; next, Ranunculus alpestris, nivalis and parnassifolius, Androsace alpina, &c.; lastly, Ranunculus glacialis, Saxifraga cespitosa, oppositifolia, androsacea and grenlandica (Lapeyr., non L.) : these, with lichens, reach 3000 or even 3400 metres, and extend to and even beyond the line of eternal snow. Guided by these observations of Ramond, and by others of his own, M. des Moulins, in the admirable memoir above-cited, has proposed to divide the Pyrenees into zones of altitude, as follows. The commencement of the subalpine zone he places at 4200 feet, about which altitude the cultivation of esculent vegetables (rye, potatoes, cabbages, &c.) ceases. It extends as far as 6000 feet, which is the upper limit of the growth of the spruce-fir and the beech*. The plants of the mountains, united with certain plants frequent in the plains, form the basis of its vegetation, and the real subalpines attain in it their greatest development both as to size and number. Meadows are scarce in this zone and do not occur above it. The alpine region M. des Moulins divides into three zones. First, the inferalpine, which extends from 6000 to 7200 feet, and is characterized chiefly by the presence of Pinus sylvestris, which * My own observations are here somewhat at variance with those of M. des Moulins. The beech has seemed to me to fail ordinarily some hundred feet below the fir, and in effect about the point where the latter attains its greatest development. Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 99 even in its most stunted form scarcely passes the upper limit. Rhododendron ferrugineum expires in this zone at from 6600 to 6900 feet, and above this altitude the herbage is composed chiefly of Nardus stricta (a grass common in the marshes of the Landes !) and of Festuca eskia, Ram. (F. varia y. crassifolia, Koch ; Eskio, Jispet and Oursagno of the mountaineers of the Pyrenees). Amongst the shrubs characteristic of this zone may be mentioned Vacci- num Myrtillus and uliginosum, Empetrum nigrum, Sorbus cha- memespilus and Salix Pyrenaica ; amongst the herbaceous plants, Silene ciliata and Arenaria ciliata. Crocus multifidus, which is a conspicuous ornament of the lower mountains (as around Bagnéres-de-Bigorre), reaches the very summit of the inferalpine zone. The medialpine zone extends from 7200 to 8400 feet. Festuca eskia attaims the upper limit of this zone, but Nardus stricta fails below it. Juniperus nana is the giant of the vegetation, already so much contracted. Here the weeds which follow the traces of man and of the domesticated animals from the plains, cease to exist. The following species are abundant in this zone : Statice alpina, Gentiana alpina, Potentilla nivalis, Cherleria sedoides, Silene acaulis, Iberis spathulata, Berger., and Pyrethrum alpinum. Lastly, above 8400 feet, in order to characterise the superalpine zone, we have merely to add to the plants of the middle zone a very small number of herbaceous plants, all perennial, and rarely descending into the medialpine zone. Such are Ranun- culus glacialis and parnassifolius, Stellaria cerastoides, Androsace alpina, Sibbaldia procumbens, Saxifraga grenlandica, Lap., and _ 8. androsacea. Thus far M. des Moulins. Of the zone below the subalpine, which I call the Zona montosa, he says nothing, because it was not necessary to his estimation of the flora of the Pic du Midi. It corresponds very nearly to Mr. Watson’s “ Agrarian Re- gion,” and were it our sole object to determine the distribution of Phanerogamia within its limits, it would be expedient to divide it into three zones, as M. des Moulins does the alpine region. Ascending from the plain, these zones might con- veniently be separated, first by the upper limit of the cultivation of the vine, and secondly by that of maize, and the three divi- sions would be of nearly equal breadth. The cultivation of the vine in the Pyrenees is, as Humboldt observed it to be in South America, very nearly coterminous with the natural forests of chestnut-trees. It is true that chestnuts occur above the vine- yards, but it is only sporadically ; and so do vines occur here and there, trained to cottages in sheltered situations, considerably beyond the zone where they normally find a suitable climate. The cultivation of maize extends to about the pomt where the box 7* 100 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. bégins to flourish luxuriantly. For the purpose, however, of estimating the climatal distribution of mosses, it will rarely be requisite to divide the montose zone ; and where I find occasion to speak of an inferior and a superior montose zone, it is to be supposed divided into two equal portions. In order to enable any one to compare more completely the distribution of plants in the Pyrences with that of the rest of Europe, and especially with that of our own islands, I add the names of several plants which I have myself observed in the various zones, of which many of them have appeared to me cha- racteristic. : Planities (= Zo). Teesdalia nudicaulis, Helianthemum alys- soides et guttatum, Viola lactea, Silene bicolor, Lupinus angus- tifolius, Corrigiola littoralis, [lecebrum verticillatum, Hyoseris minima, Erica scoparia et ciliaris, Anagallis tenella et crassifolia, Pinguicula lusitanica, Phalangium bicolor, Avena Thorei, Agrostis setacea et elegans, Airopsis globosa, Cynosurus echinatus, &c. &e. Zona montosa (= Z,). Pars inferior. Ranunculus nemoro- sus, Anemone ranunculoides, Hepatica triloba, Geranium pheum, Saxifraga Geum, Asperula cynanchica, Prunella grandiflora, Sta- chys alpina, Euphorbia hyberna et dulcis, Cephalanthera ensi- folia, Keeleria cristata, Melica ciliata. Zona montosa superior. Potentilla micrantha, Orobus luteus, Saxifraga Geum, Astrantia major, Heracleum Pyrenaicum, Arnica montana, Cirsium Monspessulanum, Prenanthes purpurea, Soyeria lapsanoides, Scrophularia Scopolii, Erimus alpinus, Teucrium . Pyrenaicum, Calamintha sylvatica, Rumex scutatus, Buxus sem- pervirens, Carex montana, Asplenium septentrionale. Zona subalpina (= Z,). Ranunculus aconitifolius, Spireea Arun- cus, Meconopsis Cambrica, Arabis alpina, Hutchinsia alpina, Car- damine latifolia et resedifolia, Viola cornuta, Dianthus Monspes- sulanus, Saponaria ocymoides, Geranium cinereum, Hippocrepis comosa, Trifolium alpmum, Sempervivum montanum, Saxifraga Geum et aquatica, Cherophyllum hirsutum, Sambucus racemosa, Galium vernum, Ramondia Pyrenaica, Scrophularia Scopolii, Di- gitalis purpurea et lutea, Linaria alpma, Veronica Ponz et saxa- tilis, Tozzia alpina, Teucrium Chameedrys, Nigritella angustifolia, Lilium Pyrenaicum, Merendera Bulbocodium, Carex ornithopoda, Asplenium Halleri. Zona inferalpina (= Z3). Ranunculus Gouani, Helianthemum (Elandicum, Viola biflora, Gypsophila repens, Geranium cine- reum, Trifolium alpinum, Dryas octopetala, Geum Pyrenaicum, Potentilla alchemilloides et rupestris, Epilobium alpinum, Pa- ronychia serpyllifolia, Saxifraga Aizoon @. minor, Eryngium Bourgati, Aster alpinus, Homogyne alpina, Carduus carlinoides, Crepis pygmea, Jasione perennis, Erinus alpinus var. hirsutus, Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 101 Veronica aphylla, Bartsia alpina, Pedicularis comosa, Horminum Pyrenaicum, Pinguicula grandiflora, Androsace carnea et villosa, Primula integrifolia, Globularia nudicaulis et rupestris, Statice alpina, Salix Pyrenaica et reticulata, Luzula pediformis, Carex sempervirens, Festuca varia, Aspidium Lonchitis, Lycopodium Selago, Polypodium Phegopteris. Zona medialpina (= Z,). Ranunculus alpestris, montanus, Pyrenzeus, Cardamine bellidifolia, Draba aizoides, Sisymbrium pinnatifidum, Saponaria czespitosa, Arenaria purpurascens, Stel- laria cerastoides, Cerastium alpinum, Cherleria sedoides, Geum montanum, Potentilla nivalis, Rhodiola rosea, Saxifraga aretioides, bryoides et muscoides, Asperula hirta, Aronicum scorpioides, Chrysanthemum alpinum, Hrigeron alpinus, Gnaphalium leon- topodium et supinum, Senecio Tournefortii, Crepis pygmeza, Taraxacum officinale var. alpinum, Campanula pusilla, Jasione perennis, Phyteuma hemisphericum, Euphrasia minima, Pedicu- laris Pyrenaica et rostrata, Pinguicula alpina, Soldanella alpina, Daphne Cneorum, Veronica alpina, Juniperus nana, Juncus tri- fidus, Luzula spadicea et pediformis, Carex Pyrenaica, Festuca varia. Zona superalpina (= Z;). Cardamine bellidifolia, Draba niva- lis, Potentilla nivalis et Salisburgensis, Saxifraga bryoides, gra- nulata var., muscoides et groenlandica, Lap., Senecio Tournefortii, Gentiana alpina, Myosotis sylvatica var. alpestris, Pedicularis rostrata, Soldanella alpina, Statice alpima, Salix retusa et her- bacea, Luzula spicata, Carex curvula et nigra, Agrostis vulgaris var. alpina, Sesleria disticha. Throughout the following catalogue of the mosses, the zones which each species occupies will be distinctly specified ; and to enable me to do this in the smallest possible compass, I propose the notation of zones above indicated, that is to say, Z, for the first zone above the plain, Z, for the second, &c., and Z, for the plain itself. It is in many cases difficult to ascertain the zone in which a moss has normally its station, for in mountainous coun- tries the seeds, &c. of mosses are carried down by the streams, precisely as those of flowering-plants are ; but a large proportion of mosses are found only near streams, and that especially in a low latitude, where the requisite degree of moisture is more rarely met with. Hence certain mosses, natives of the alpine region, are occasionally found some thousands of feet below it. To take an instance in Grimmia spiralis, a species which is stated by the authors of the ‘ Bryologia Europea’ to have its “ véritable habitat au-dessus de toute végétation forestiére.” Near Cauterets, op- posite the baths of La Raillére, on the rude blocks of granite which are thickly strewn along the banks of the Gave de Marca- daou, this species forms large lax tufts, disfigured by the sand of 102 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. the stream, yet bearing a few capsules. This is far below the commencement of the subalpine zone ; but in continuing to ascend the stream, until we emerge on the broken plain adjacent to the Lac de Gaube, where the only trees are a few scattered pines (i.e. cowards the upper limit of the inferalpine zone), we find the same species, forming small compact tufts and bearing a profu- sion of fruit, growing on the same sort of rock, and often far removed from any stream. Here it is obviously at home. The localities visited within Z, are for the most part entirely destitute of mosses, in consequence of the declivities beimg co- vered with sliding fragments of sehistose rock. Two species of Hepaticze, Sarcoscyphus emarginatus and Alicularia scalaris, com- mon in the plains, ascend in varying forms nearly to the limit of perpetual snow, and with Jungermannia julacea form the sole representatives of the tribe in Z;. I must also observe, that nowhere in the Pyrenees do mosses and lichens ascend higher than all flowering-plants. Even above the line of perpetual con- gelation, wherever a rock peeps out of the snow (its sides being too steep for the snow to rest upon them), Saxifrages, and two or three other kinds of plants equally hardy, fix themselves in its crevices. This is also the case with lichens, but scarcely with real frondose mosses, and I very much doubt whether there be any region in the world (alpine or arctic) where mosses leave below them every phanerogamous plant, although we have long been taught to believe that such is the case. Ramond found flowers to accompany Mont Perdu almost to its summit. I proceed now to exhibit in a tabular form a list of those Musci, Hepaticze and Lichenes which have appeared to me cha- racteristic of the various zones in the Pyrenees. I have consi- dered a species characteristic of a particular zone for the follow- ing reasons: 1. It is either abundantly distributed in that zone throughout the chain, and scarcely seen above or below it; or, 2. It occurs at various (it may be distant) pomts of the chain, and nowhere abundantly, yet 1s always confined to one zone; or else, 3. It is distributed through several zones, but exists in its perfect state only m one. A few species flourish with equal luxuriance in two or more zones. Those mentioned for the superalpine zone were almost its sole occupants, and most of them were sterile. The species united by brackets were fre- quently grouped together in one tuft, so as to be taken up at once by the hand; or, in the case of crustaceous lichens, occupied the surface of one stone. The species printed in italics are con- sidered peculiarly characteristic of the zone in which they are placed. Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 103 Limes nivalis. Muscr. Hepaticez, Licuenes, N |Polytrichum juniperinum. Jungermannia julacea. Parmelia chrysoleuca. a sexangulare. { Sarcoscyphusemarginatus.|Lecidea atrobrunnea. Ee { Encalypta rhabdocarpa. Alicularia scalaris. Umbilicaria proboscidea var. No | | Hypnum molluseum var. Endocarpon miniatum, var. £8 | ( Desmatodonlatifolius,var. complicatum. S. muticus = 1 Weisia crispula var. 8400’. Weisia crispula var. Jungermannia julacea. Umbilicaria proboscidea. N } Dicranum Starkii. Sarcoscyphus emarginatus. atropruinosa. 8 | | Aretoa fulvella. Alicularia scalaris. Cetraria pinastri. —>® |Grimmia sulcata. Gymnomitrium concinna- | { Cladonia vermicularis. || 5 atrata. tum. gracilis. NN & |Tortula vinealis, var. nivalis Lecidea Morio. ~ = |Dissodon Froelichianus. confluens. 5° |Anacalypta latifolia. Wahlenbergii. © Parmelia ventosa. Rryum turbinatum, var. lati- folium. _ 7200’. |Hypnum plicatum. Hypnum plicatum. Leskea incurvata. Tortula aciphylla. Dicranum Starkii. Desmatodon latifolius. Hypnum reflexum. callichrous. - |Grimmia spiralis. ovata var. alpestris, . |Timmia megapolitana. Bryum polymorphum, var. curvisetum. alpinum. capillare var. 3. Bartramia ithyphylla. | J So a Buoy Gymnostomumcurvirostrum 6000’. |Hypnum dimorphum. Hypnum dimorphum. Starkii. Bryum acuminatum. } Zierii. capillare var, 2. Halleri. subtile. [sothecium striatum. Bartramia Halleriana. Trichostomum glaucescens. Campylopus longirostris. Grimmia elatior. Gymnostomum rupestre. uncinatum. Schreberi. salebrosum. ) wy ‘euldeqns euoz Piychomitrium polyphyllum. 4200!'. |Grimmia ovata, Peltigera crocea. Gymnomitrium concinnatum|Peltigera crocea. Jungermannia albicans var. |Lecidea Wahlenbergii. trichophylla. Parmelia ventosa. Mastigobryum deflexum. Lecidea Morio. Parmelia badia. Biatora decipiens. Mastigobryum deflexum. Cetraria juniperina. Jungermannia trichophylla|Parmelia ventosa. curvifolia. Biatora lurida. reclusa. Umbilicaria pustulata. Scapania apiculata. Hypnum Crista-castrensis| Jungermannia nana, spherocarpa. lanceolata. riparia, acuta. { 104 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. Musc1. Hepatica&. LIcHENES. Pterogonium filiforme. Plagiochila Pyrenaica. Parmelia fulgens. Leskea attenuata. Jungermannia acuta. crassa. Entodon insidiosus, { Wilsoniana. Lecidea candida. Hypnum rugosum. vesicularis. abietinum. Verrucaria maxima. Opegrapha cerebrina. Verrucaria Dufourei. catenulatum. Bryum elengatum. Dicranum polycarpum. ‘| Rhabdoweisia fugax. | ‘| ¢ Orthotrichum Hutchinsiz rupestre. Tortula paludosa. Trichostomum tortile. Grimmia leucophea. Fissidens grandifrons. Bryum obconicum. Hypnum crassinervium. ) *jouedn ) vsojuout vu07Z Isothecium repens. Jungermannia Wilsoniana. Hypnum Haldanianum. Southbya tophacea. pratense. Teesdalii. Leucodon sciuroides. { Dicranum montanum. Tortula revoluta. chloronotos. Bryum atropurpureum. Grimmia crinita. | |Fissidens incurvus. ue) yay "IOLA Hypnum illecebrum. Jungermannia Francisci. |Parmelia chrysophthalma. Leptodon Smithii. Saccogyna viticulosa. rubiginosa. Bryum torquescens var. Mastigobryum trilobatum. Clementiana. Tozeri. Reboulia hemisphzrica. Opegrapha. elegans. Muelleri. Riccia fluitans. Lyellii. Entosthodon Templetoni. natans. Tortula cuneifolia. Trichostomum subulatum. ‘sorjturyd 2 Ss (°7=) << It was my intention to have given here a comparative view of the distribution of Musci and Hepatice in the Pyrenees and in the other great mountain-ranges of the world, as also with that of our own islands, but this introduction has already swelled to a tedious length, and I hasten to close it with a few general observations. As there are certain flowermg-plants which accompany the habitations of men and of cattle from the plains nearly to the tops of the mountains, namely, in the Pyrenees, nettles, mallows and docks (Rumex Patientia) ; so there are hkewise certain mosses which cling with equal tenacity to these traces of civilization. k Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 105 The most notable are Ceratodon purpureus and Funaria hygro- metrica. Tortula ruralis is associated with these until im the in- feralpine zone it meets and is supplanted by 7. aciphylla, which I have never seen away from the sheep-cotes and the huts of the shepherds. At about the same height Hypnum rutabulum and Bryum capillare give place to Hypnum plicatum and Leskea in- curvata ; these last, along with Yortula aciphylla, indicate the localities where the domesticated animals have taken up their temporary sojourn, throughout all the higher mountains. The cryptogamic vegetation of the Pyrenees, taken in the mass, has great general resemblance to that of our own islands, espe- cially of Ireland, and the species common to both attain nearly the same comparative altitude. Yet there are features in the former which would forcibly strike a bryologist accustomed only to the mosses of the British Isles. About the foot of the Pyrenees he would be struck with the luxuriant fructification of Dicranum glaucum and Leucodon sciuroides, the fruit of the latter bemg one of the greatest rarities of our islands; and he would equally re- mark the absence of Brywm cespiticium, of which I gathered only a single tuft, on a wall near Oloron; nor has it been observed elsewhere in the Pyrenees, though we are accustomed to look on it as the commonest of mosses. Bryum cernuum and inclinatum are almost equally scarce, though frequent with us and ascending high into the mountains. Were he next to climb the lower cal- eareous hills, he would see Hypnum rugulosum, abietinum, and Leskea attenuata profusely covering the scattered stones and rocks, and forming quite a marked feature even in the scenery. But he would miss Hypnum undulatum and the Sphagna which ornament our moist turfy hills; and if he ascended higher, he would probably see no Splachna or Andreea. The rarity of the latter cannot be attributed to the southern latitude of the Pyre- nees, for they exist even under the equator, as for instance on Mount Pichincha. The abundance of these two genera in the Alps of Switzerland must give a character to their vegetation wanting in the Pyrenees ; and in general the Alps would seem to be much more mossy than the Pyrenees, above the region of forests, giving birth for example to an immense number of Brya, which in the Pyrenees are nowhere abundant above the inferal- pine zone. This may reasonably be attributed to the more northerly position of the Alps, to their extending through a far wider zone of latitude, and not consisting like the Pyrenees of a single narrow chain; and to their greater humidity, which is probably dependent on the immense breadth of snow that perpe- tually covers them. ‘The species described in this catalogue as new have none of them been observed in the Alps, with the ex- ception of Hypnum Pyrenaicum, which was the only one noticed 106 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. above the subalpine zone; and there are a few other Pyrenzan mosses wanting to the Alps*. Two Jungermannie exceedingly common in Britain, Lophocolea bidentata and heterophylla, are all but absent from the Pyrenees ; and two others, Jungermannia barbata and Ptilidium ciliare, great ornaments of our mountainous districts, are altogether wanting. The latter attains its southern limit in the north of Italy ; it is distributed throughout middle and northern Europe, but grows in greatest luxuriance within the Arctic circle. (Conf. Wahlenberg and the accounts of our Northern voyagers.) According to Wahlenberg, there are in Lapland, as in the Pyrenees, extensive forests of Pinus Abies and P. sylvestris, and both descend into the plain ; the former cease at the altitude of 800 feet and the latter at 1200 feet, indicating respectively the upper limits of the “regio sylvatica” and the “regio subsylva- tica.” But in the Pyrenees these trees ascend proportionally far higher than in Lapland ; and that they do not occupy the same climatal zones we shall see by comparing the positions of a few mosses common to both countries. In the Pyrenees, Tortula tor- tuosa, Bryum crudum, Didymodon capillaceus and Dicranum virens are found in the region of coniferous trees, and are rarely seen above it ; but these are precisely species mentioned by Wahlen- berg as characteristic of his “ Alpes inferiores,” which are above the region even of the birch (“regio subalpina, Wahl.’’), and are characterized by the presence of Betula nana, Diapenzia lappo- nica and Silene acaulis. Yet the comparative altitudes attamed by the mosses in the Pyrenees and in Lapland accord very nearly, and the species which ascend highest in the one for the most part do the same also in the other. Hence the zone occupied by a moss common to both has probably in both the same average estival temperature. [To be continued. ] XI.—Alge Orientales :—Descriptions of new Species belonging to the genus Sargassum. By R. K. Greviniz, LL.D. &e.+ [Continued from vol. ii. p. 434.] [ With a Plate.] WIGHTIAN. 10. Sargassum porosum (nob.) ; caule cylindraceo, brevissimo, mu- ricato, ramis planis; foliis ovato-oblongis, subundulatis, inciso- * The number of species which I have found in the Pyrenees new to the flora of France is considerable; but I cannot give a correct list of them, as I have not the dates of several species discovered in the Alps and Jura and nearly contemporaneously in the Pyrenees. + Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 14th Dec. 1848. Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. 107 dentatis, uninerviis ; vesiculis sphericis breviter petiolatis ; recep- taculis minutis, axillaribus, cylindraceis, oblongis, inermibus, sub- racemosis. Hab. in mari Peninsulz Indiz Orientalis; Shuter (1827), Wight. Root an expanded cartilaginous disc. Stem cylindrical, very short (in the only specimen I possess scarcely half an inch), about the thickness of a blackbird’s quill, muricate. Primary branches few, 12-18 inches or more lonz, simple or sparingly divided, flat, a line or more broad, giving off the secondary branches in a distichous manner at intervals of about half an inch; these are from 3 to 6 inches long, and closely set with fruit-bearing ramuli likewise distichously arranged, and from half an inch to an inch m length. Leaves; those of the young primary branches, especially near the base, an inch long, ovate-oblong, sometimes ovate-lanceolate, somewhat undulate, deeply, and very irregularly inciso-dentate ; those on the secondary branches half the size above-mentioned, and those accompanying the fructification mi- nute and somewhat cuneate; all furnished with a slender nerve becoming faint and disappearing before reaching the apex, and with abundance of oval pores. Vesicles spherical, on stalks scarcely a line long; those accompanying the leaves on the young primary branches considerably larger than the seed of Lathyrus odoratus ; those on the smaller branches and those inter- mixed with the receptacles much less. Receptacles axillary, about a line long, cylindraceous, linear-oblong, obtuse, unarmed, form- ing irregularly divided clusters. Colour a rich red-brown, the younger leaves paler and somewhat translucent. Substance mem- branaceous, slightly rigid when dry. This species is allied to Sargassum incisifolium, Ag., found at the Cape of Good Hope, but differs in the entire receptacles be- sides other characters. In an old state the branches lose their leaves and seem covered with the little tufted racemes. The specimen which I possess from Dr. Shuter was kindly communicated by Sir W. J. Hooker. 11. Sargassum elegans (nob.); caule filiformi, teretiusculo, ramosis- simo ; foliis lineari-oblongis, obtusis, laciniato-dentatis, inferne oblique attenuatis ; vesiculis parvulis, sphericis ; receptaculis li- neari-oblongis, subcompressis, apicem versus dentatis, racemosis. Wight in herb. no. 15. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indiz Orientalis ; Wight. Plant probably between 1 and 2 feet long ; the specimen before me being fully 12 inches of the upper extremity, the whole of which bears evidence of having been covered with branches. Root I have not seen. Stem, or probably more correctly primary branch, filiform, about double the thickness of a hog’s bristle, 108 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. giving off spreading branches 3-4 inches long, at intervals of half an inch, which become gradually shorter upwards, thickly covered with leaves, vesicles and receptacles. Leaves linear- oblong, or, sometimes, oblong-lanceolate, nearly three-quarters of an inch in length, 2-3 lines broad, obliquely attenuated at the base into a very slender petiole, sharply inciso-dentate, or even laciniate, furnished with a delicate nerve and oval pores. Vesicles numerous, spherical, the largest not half the size of the seed of Lathyrus odoratus, most of them as small as an ordinary pin’s head, often apiculate, and the apiculus excentric, furnished with a few papilliform pores, and supported on a little compressed stalk not a line in length. Receptacles axillary, cylindraceous or subcompressed, oblong or somewhat club-shaped, sharply toothed, and forming little racemose tufts about a line and a half long. Colour dull reddish brown. Substance somewhat membranaceous and slightly diaphanous. A very beautiful species. When dry, the laciniate teeth of the leaves give them quite a fringed appearance. 12. Sargassum brevifolium (nob.); caule teretiusculo, muricato ; foliis parvulis, obovatis, dentatis, uninerviis; vesiculis minutis, sphericis ; receptaculis filiformibus, elongatis, racemosis. Wight in herb. no. 20. Var. 8; foliis laciniato-dentatis, in petiolo longiore attenuato. An species distincta ? Wight in herb. no. 10. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indie Orientalis; Wight. Root I have not seen. Stem (or primary branch?) probably 2 feet long or more; but only fragments are in my possession ; cylindraceous, somewhat muricate. Branches 4 or 5 inches long, thickly clothed with the fructiferous ramuli, which are not more than half an inch in length. Leaves; those on the main branches I have not seen ; those on the secondary branches, from the axils of which the clusters of receptacles and vesicles arise, are about a third of an inch long, more or less obovate, remotely dentate, rounded at the end, furnished with pores and a nerve which soon becomes rather faint and disappears below the summit. Vesicles spherical, numerous, the size of a large pin’s head, having pro- minent pores, supported on filiform stalks half a line in length, and arising from the lower ramifications of the raceme. Recep- tacles numerous, filiform, elongated, forming much-divided ra- cemes from a quarter to half an inch long. The receptacles are not unfrequently foliaceous towards their upper extremity, in which case they resemble linear leaves toothed at the margin, and are furnished with a nerve and pores. Colour reddish black when dry. Substance cartilaginous. On the Structure of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. 109 In variety 8. the stem is more muricate. The leaves smaller, and besides being inciso- or laciniato-dentate, they are attenuated more gradually into a longer and more slender stalk. The recep- tacles are smaller, but present no other perceptible difference. In the absence of more perfect specimens, and indeed of a larger series, the present description must necessarily be imper- fect. The plant I have considered as a doubtful variety bears a great resemblance to the other, yet 1 might perhaps with some reason have raised it to the rank of a species; the striking simi- larity of the fructification alone deterred me. Should it prove distinct, it may bear the name of S. pergracile. EXPLANATION OF PLATE-_IV. Sargassum porosum. . Leaves and vesicles on the young plant. . One of the lower leaves. . Leaves and vesicles on the fertile branches. . Leaves of the ramuli with receptacle. . Portion of a branch with old racemes, after the leaves and vesicles have disappeared. The two last magnified. Te ivalet Gok Co bo Sargassum elegans. Fig. 1. A branch. — 2. Leaf from ditto. — 3. Raceme. — 4&5. Raceme. — 6. Vesicles. 2,4, 5 and 6 magnified. Sargassum brevifolium. Fig. . Lower portion of a branch. . Raceme of fructification, with vesicles. Raceme, vesicles and leaf. Vesicle. . Portion of var. 8. . Leaves of ditto. 3, 4 and 6 magnified. XII.— Observations on the Minute Structure and Mode of Con- traction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre ; being the abstract of a Paper read before the Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh, De- cember 15th, 1848. By W. Murray Dostz, F.B.S.E. [With a Plate. ] Tue structure of cross-striated muscle is a subject which has more or less engaged the attention of minute anatomists, since the first introduction of the microscope as a means of histological research. There is perhaps no animal texture as to the nature of which more contrary opinions have been held, or more conflicting state- 110 Mr. W. M. Dobie on the Minute Structure and ments advanced, than that of voluntary muscle, so that even at the present time it must still be considered a question by no means set at rest. My object in the present communication is to state briefly the opinions which a careful examination of this texture in seve- ral animals has led me to adopt, confining my observations to the elementary fibre, independent of its sarcolemmal sheath. Before proceeding to do so, I shall very shortly notice the opinions of the principal microscopic anatomists who have been empioyed in this investigation. Robert Hooke and Leuwenhoeck were the first to examine muscular fibre with the microscope. Robert Hooke speaks of the “fibres resembling a necklace of pearl ;” it is probable that by fibres he means the ultimate fibrille. Leuwenhoek saw and figured the transverse striz, which he regarded as only surface-markings produced by the windings of a spiral thread. He considered the fibre to be composed of glo- bules, less in size than the corpuscles of the blood. He made cross-sections of the fibres, and showed them to be polygonal and surrounded by areolar texture. Malpighi, im an isolated passage of his works, notices the transverse strie. De Heide also described and figured them. In the large work of Muys, which appeared in the middle of the last century, the author describes muscle with great care ; he was evidently acquainted with the transverse strie, and figured the fibrille, which he terms “ fila,’ and describes as “ nonnun- quam etiam nodosa” (PI. VII. fig.1ab ed). The nodose appear- ance would seem to have perplexed him, and he considered it not universal. Muys was well-aware of the solidity of the elementary fibres, and his drawings of cross-sections of muscle are well- worthy of examination. Prochaska wrote an excellent treatise on muscle* ; he supposed that the markings seen on the surface of a muscular fibre were caused by the lateral pressure of vessels, nerves or fibres. He injected muscle very successfully, and found the vessels so nu- merous, that he attributed the contraction of muscle to the dis- tension of these vessels throwing the fibre into zigzag flexures. Fontana, in his treatise “On the Venom of the Vipert,” makes some short but excellent observations on muscular fibre ; he was the first anatomist who ascribed the transverse striz to the lateral coaptation of the sareal elements of the fibrille. He thus speaks of the fibrillee :— “ Les fils charnus primitifs sont des cylindres solides, égaux entr’eux, et marqués visiblement a distances égales de petits signes, comme d’autant de petits diaphragmes, ou rides. Je n’al * De Carne Musculari. + Sur le Vénin de la Vipére, 1781. Mode of Contraction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. 111 pu apercevoir dans ces fils une marche vraiment ondée, et il m’a paru que les petites taches curvilignes du faisceau primitif étoient formées par les petits signes, ou diaphragmes, des fils charnus primitifs.” (Pl. VII. fig. 2.) Sir Everard Home and Mr. Bauer took up the microscopical investigation of muscular fibre im 1818 and again in 1826. Un- fortunately for science they fell into remarkable errors. Their observations retarded rather than advanced the microscopic ana- tomy of muscle, and raised doubts as to the credibility of any conclusions drawn from microscopic observations. Sir Everard Home and Mr. Bauer*, seeing the tendency which blood-corpuscles have to unite in a longitudinal series, fancied it highly probable that the fibrillze of striated muscle were formed in the same manner. Sir Everard states that the particles of the fibrillee are of the same diameter as the blood-corpuscles deprived of their colour ; he supposes Leuwenhoek’s assertion, that muscle is composed of globules of less diameter than the blood-corpuscles, incorrect, and he endeavours to account for this supposed mistake by adducing the fact, that Leuwenhoek never possessed a micro- meter. Mr. Skey, in a paper in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions,’ sets forth as his opinion, that each muscular fibre is a tube, contain- ing in its interior a semi-transparent amorphous substance; the tube he supposes to be composed of fibrillee, and the transverse striee to be depressions on the surface of the fibre. The views of Miiller, Schwann, Lauth and Henle are very similar to those advanced by Fontana. Schwann considers the fibrille to be beaded filaments, pre- senting under the microscope a succession of dark points sepa- rated by hght and somewhat narrower portions of the fibril. Dr. Martin Barry holds the structure of muscle to be spiral ; he says each fibril is composed of two spirals coiling in opposite directions. CaP TO From these observers I shall pass to those who in recent times have examined the fibrillee of muscle, with a view to determining the real constitution of these filaments. The publication of Mr. Bowman’s paper in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ was an era in the microscopy of muscle, though he does not seem to have been able to make out the ultimate con- stitution of the fibrillee, which he considered were composed of a series of highly refracting particles of one kind ; he thus describes them :— “Fibrille present alternate dark and light points when the * Philosophical Transactions, 1818 and 1826, 112 Mr. W.M. Dobie on the Minute Structure and part is a little out of focus. The light parts are the centres of highly refracting particles acting as lenses; the dark points the intervals between them. If now the focus be carefully adjusted and the achromatic condenser be used for the purpose of defining the outline with the utmost precision, each dark interspace be- tween the refracting points will be found to be reduced to two very slender straight lines, crossing the fibrillz in a transverse direction, and giving the light spaces as now seen a rectangular figure.” (Fig. 3a 6.) Dr. Sharpey, from an examination of Mr. Lealand’s prepara- tions of the muscle of pig, considers the sarcal particles each to be composed of a dark central and clear outer part. Dr. Sharpey mentions that Mr. Lealand himself first pointed out a cross line in the clear interval, and also the bright surrounding areas (fig. 4a &b). Dr. Carpenter examining the same dissections comes to a similar conclusion (fig. 2 0). Professor Allen Thomson of Glasgow, in his late work on Phy- slology, describes the structure of the fibrillze in the same way as Dr. Sharpey : but since the publication of that work he has been led to doubt the existence of any lateral clear edge, as he himself has informed me. Mr. Erasmus Wilson, from an examination of Mr. Lealand’s preparations, which he is pleased to call his “own investiga- tions,” describes the fibrillee very differently ; he does not repre- sent any clear lateral edge to the fibril ; he considers the clear as well as the dark space to be severally composed of a pair of cells, the dark pair containing a denser “ myoline” than the clear pair ; each of these cells is again subdivided into two, thus giving four square cells of equal size in each dark or light interval (fig. 5 a & b). w I shall now advert to my own views regarding this structure, which I have deduced from the examination of very numerous demonstrations of the fibrille, which I have succeeded in making in several kinds of muscular fibre, generally in the perfectly fresh state. When a favourable specimen of the muscular fibrillee of the frog, pig, or ox, is placed under a microscope magnifying about 500 diameters, and the focus is adjusted with great care to the point at which the fibrille can be seen with the greatest di- stinctness, or at what I shall term the distinct focus, the ap- pearance presented is the following :—The fibrille are seen to be divided equally into a series of quadrangular spaces or areas, which are observed to be of two kinds, the one dark, the other clear or light, regularly alternating with each other. The Mode of Contraction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. 113 clear area may be observed in favourable specimens to have a distinct edge, and when the fibril has been in no way distorted or stretched, to be continuous with the edge of the dark area. Crossing the clear space at its centre, and at right angles to the length of the fibril, will be seen a distinct dark line ; this line di- vides the clear area into two equal parts or divisions, which are necessarily quadrangular. The dark space in the same focus presents a shape very similar to the clear one, though generally of a more elongated form; its whole surface is dark, with the exception however of a clear line crossing it in the same manner _as the dark transverse line does the clear space, and dividing it equally into two dark particles (fig. 6 a). In some cases I have seen the dark spaces divided into three by two clear cross-lines ; an appearance I think which cannot be relied on, as the other dark spaces in the same fibrils presented the space as double only, with the single clear transverse line. When the fibrils are stretched, the dark space often appears as if somewhat elevated above the clear space ; I have seen this very distinctly in stretched fibrils from the lobster, examined very shortly after death, the clear space having scalloped edges (fig. 7 a). With regard to the term dark space, it must not be supposed that it is really opake; for under a superficial focus it also be- comes clear, as I shall presently describe. I shall still retain the term as expressive of what is observed when the fibril is seen under the distinct focus. If the focus of the instrument be now adjusted for the more superficial part of the fibril, or a little above it, a remarkable change is observed ; the general appearance of the fibril is dimi- nished in distinctness, and what was before the dark space now appears clear (but not so translucent as the clear space in the distinct focus), and is then seen to be crossed transversely by a dark line (fig. 6 0). The clear area or space undergoes a similar change of appear- ance, becoming quite dark, but no line can be observed to cross it. The focus under which this is observed, to avoid confusion I shall call the superficial focus (fig. 6 b). It will perhaps be considered trivial thus to describe the ap- pearance of the fibrille under an indistinct focus: but that it is not so, I hope afterwards to be able to prove; for on the change of appearances thus presented, I believe hangs the true explanation of the cause of the transverse strie of voluntary muscle. In some kinds of muscular fibrillz, it is a matter of great dif- ficulty to perceive any dark transverse line in the clear space: Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. m1. 8 114 Mr. W. M. Dobie on the Minute Structure and this arises from the extremely small size of this space, especially when the fibril is in a relaxed condition, and is more particularly found in the examination of the muscular fibrils of fish, lobster or crab, in which indeed this line can be very rarely seen (fig. 7 5). Hence most probably the reason why Mr. Bowman does not re- present it. In such cases the only way to obtain a view of it is by stretching the fibril when in a perfectly fresh state; this cross-line of the clear space in the lobster partook more of the nature of a band, in the cases where I was enabled to examine it (Pl. VII. fig. 7 a). Inthe fish (salmon) I have only seen it in a few cases, but in these the appearance was so distinct as not to leave the least doubt of its existence. I am not aware that this cross-line in the lobster, salmon, skate and frog has been seen by any preceding observers. In the pig and human subject it has been seen; I have also distinctly ob- served it in the muscular fibrille of the ox. The length of the dark and clear spaces is sometimes identical ; at other times, and more frequently, the clear space is shorter ; and in the lobster and salmon is often so narrow as to be dimi- nished to a somewhat dark line when the fibril is in a _ perfectly relaxed condition. I have also frequently observed, in dissections of the muscular fibrillee of the frog and salmon, an appearance which I consider it important to mention, the true explanation of which I am at pre- sent unable to decide upon. It is as follows :—At the point where two fibrillee are separated from each other, extended for a greater or less distance between them, there often exists a beautiful ho- mogeneous membrane, (resembling the web between two of the toes of a duck,) which is stretched by the violence used in the separation of the fibrille (fig. 8a). Insome recent observations which I lave made on the muscular fibres of the skate when perfectly fresh, this appearance invariably presented itself, with this peculiarity however, that instead of being perfectly homoge- neous, it was marked with stripes corresponding to the dark and light spaces of the fibrillee between which it was stretched (fig. 8 5). I was at first inclined to regard this membrane as a shred of the sarcolemma accidentally stretched out between two fibrille ; but from its being of a decidedly more delicate nature than that membrane, and from its being present in nearly every part of some preparations, I am inclined to consider it as being caused by some homogeneous connecting medium spread among the fibrillee. . The strize in this membrane in the skate I am at a loss to ac- count for ; perhaps from the tearimg of the membrane over the Mode of Contraction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. 115 fibrillz, the surface of the membrane may have been thrown into delicate rugze by the elevation of the dark spaces above the clear ones, as may be often seen in stretched fibrils. I have seen appearances in the skate that would almost lead to the belief that this membrane was a fibril spread out laterally into a membrane; this would quite account for the striz on its surface. The subject requires more investigation. The form of the fibrillee I consider to be somewhat flattened or ribbon-shaped ; this can be easily seen when an isolated fibril becomes accidentally twisted. The conclusions which I would draw with regard to the struc- ture of muscular fibre from what I have myself observed, I shall now endeavour to give. 1. That (excluding the sarcolemma) an ultimate fibre of voluntary muscle is composed of two kinds of sarcous matter, arranged in a definite manner, having a tendency under certain circumstances to split up into fibrille (Pl. VII. fig. 9), very rarely into discs, and then generally after prolonged maceration in spirit. The fibrillz are divided into dark and light spaces. 2. That the dark sarcal element or space has some peculiarity in its molecular arrangement, differing from the clear sarcal ele- ment or space, which causes it to refract light in a different way. That we are not entitled to say that it is composed of cells con- taining a fluid of greater density than that contained in the con- tiguous clear space ; in fact, that we are not able to say with any degree of certainty, that any portion of a muscular fibril in the mature state is a cell contaiming fluid, as Mr. Erasmus Wilson believes. 3. That the clear space can be distinctly seen to havea dark line crossing it transversely and dividing it into two equal parts, and that the dark space also presents a similar division caused by a line which is generally seen of a lighter shade than the other parts of the same space, and not a broad black band as is erro- neously represented by Mr. Erasmus Wilson (fig: 6 a & fig. 5 a). 4. That no clear area exists at the edge of the fibrille extend- ing transversely outwards from the dark spaces, giving the fibrillee the appearance of a chain of nucleated cells, as is repre- sented by Dr. Sharpey and Dr. Carpenter (fig. 4). This conclu- sion I have been irresistibly led to by the following considera- tions :— a. The fact that when two fibrille lie side by side, the edges of the black spaces are in accurate apposition. b. That if this lateral clear area really existed, the fibre would be spotted, or at least marked with longitudinal strize quite as — distinct as the transverse ones, which in this case would not be well-marked (fig. 4 a). es 116 Mr. W. M. Dobie on the Minute Structure-and c. That the edges of the clear space can be seen under a fine instrument not to extend farther laterally than the edges of the | dark space (fig. 6 a). [I perceive Mr. Quekett in one of the plates to his recent work on the Microscope has distinctly represented this, though he gives an incorrect diagram to explain an appearance which he represents quite correctly. | d. That the cross-line in the clear space measures exactly the same as the breadth of the dark space, and that it can be di- stinctly seen in favourable cases to touch the edges of. the clear space (fig. 6 a). 5. That it seems probable that there exists a homogeneous connecting medium among the fibrillee (fig. 8a & 0). 6. That the structure of cross-striated muscular fibre is essen- tially the same in all the members of the animal kingdom. 7. That from all I have seen of the structure of voluntary muscle, I ain perfectly certain that the appearances presented are quite inconsistent with any palpable spiral arrangement, either in the fibre or fibrillz, as is still the opinion of Dr. Martin Barry. Mr. Bowman’s observations ought to have set this point at rest. 8. That the dark spaces become clear, and clear spaces dark, during a change in the focus of the instrument, causing a pecu- liar appearance of movement on the fibrille (fig. 6 a & 0). 9. That the clear spaces are generally narrower in the fish and lobster than im the frog and mammalia (fig. 6a). 10. That the fibrillz are somewhat flattened bands. 11. That the dark spaces in some cases appear as if slightly elevated above the clear spaces of a fibril (fig. 7 a). The transverse strie. The transverse striz, when observed with great care and durmg rapid though slight alterations of the focus, are seen to undergo some change in appearance; a kind of shifting a short space backwards and forwards. This appearance I explain in the fol- lowing manner. The muscular fibrils bemg composed of a series of clear and dark particles, which under change of focus alter from dark to clear and from clear to dark, this change also takes place under the same circumstances in the complete fibre, so that the dark transverse striz are at one time formed by the lateral cuaptation of the dark spaces, at another time by a hke coaptation of the clear spaces. I see no other way of explaining this peculiar appearance of movement on the surface of the fibre durmg alterations of focus in arational manner, and I believe that Mr. Erasmus Wilson is Mode of Contraction of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. 117 wrong in stating that the dark transverse striz are always formed by the lateral union of the light spaces. This appearance of movement cannot be caused by dark spaces of fibrillee lying immediately below the clear spaces of a set of fibres which are superficial to them. As the movement can be seen in a perfectly fresh and undisturbed fibre, it can also be seen on the individual fibrille, as I have already stated. The contraction of voluntary muscle. Hales, Prevost and Dumas, from observations made on the ab- dominal muscles of the frog, considered the contraction of mus- cle to be due to zigzag flexures taking place in each fibre. Pre- vost and Dumas imagined it to be an electrical effect of the pass- age of nervous cords across the fibre at the angles of flexure. Professor Allen Thomson repeated the experiments of Hales, Prevost and Dumas, and was led from the observations he then made to consider that the zigzag plicee were not produced until the contraction had ceased in the fibres which were the subjects of it ; he observed single fibres continuing in contraction, being simply shortened and not falling into the zigzag flexures. Pro- fessor Owen was also led to doubt the accuracy of the statements of Prevost and Dumas from noticing that during the contraction of unstriated muscles in some Filarias and in a Vesicularia, a swelling took place in the centre of the fibre which thus became shorter and thicker. Dr. A. Farre observed a similar fact in the unstriated muscles of the Polypifera. The admirable researches of Mr. Bowman have left us little to wish for with regard to the nature of the contraction ; I refer to his observations published in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1842. All his observations were made on muscular fibres of animals shortly after death. I shall briefly allude to some observations made with reference to this subject on the living and uninjured tadpole. In April this year (1848), when observing the circulation in the tail of a tadpole after the disappearance of the gills, I was surprised on noticing that the cross-striated muscular fibres were distinctly visible through the external tegument; the contrac- tions after the animal was somewhat exhausted were slow and beautiful, not uniform throughout, as is the case when the tail is observed immediately after the death of the animal and stripped of its integument : the former is the active, living aud voluntary, the latter the passive contraction. When the contraction was comparatively slow, the approach of the transverse striz could be seen with extreme distinctness ; the 118 On the Structure of Voluntary Muscular Fibre. relaxation was as instantaneous as the contraction in that part of the fibre which was the subject of it. The circulation of the blood was visibly accelerated after a rapid series of contractions ; the blood seemed to be pressed out of the vessels of the part undergoing contraction ; on relaxation taking place the afflux was immediate. These observations were made at a time when I was much en- gaged with other matters, and are consequently very imperfect. I hope to be able to resume the inquiry during the ensuing spring, when these interesting animals can be obtained in a pro- per state for the exammation. I believe this is the first obser- ‘vation of the contraction of a cross-striated muscle, so high in the scale of being as the Batrachia. I may mention that Dr. Allen Thomson repeated my experiments on the tadpole about the same time and with similar results. Among the Rotifera I have observed very beautiful examples of cross-striated muscle, more especially in the Huchlanis tri- quetra and in the Euchlanis Hornemanni, which are not uncom- mon species ; the approach of the transverse striz is very marked. The relaxed fibres are subject to a degree of zigzag flexure when other muscles of the animal are in action. In conclusion, one word on the mode of displaying or separa- ting fibrille from the mass of a fibre, which is unquestionably a very difficult operation. Mr. Lealand the optician seems to have almost completely monopolized this branch of minute dissection, as nearly the whole of the best preparations extant are from his hands. I am not aware that he has yet made known his mode of procedure to the public. If a muscular fibre of the salmon be used, it is in general not very difficult to separate the fibrille in water. Allowing it to remain in moderately strong spirit for a short time, not only re- moves the oil-globules from around the fibre, but greatly facili- tates the dissection ; it may then be mounted in the usual way, in spirit, or what perhaps answers better, in glycerine diluted with about three times its bulk of water. The most characteristic specimens are obtained with greatest ease from the frog, the size of the fibres rendering them very easy to manipulate. Allow the leg of a frog stripped of tegument to remain in moderately strong spirit for about two hours, then commence the dissection with extremely fine needles set in long handles. The largest fibres should be selected. After a few trials the rudest operator can scarcely fail to separate the fibrille. The muscular fibres of the skate, treated in the same manner, afford easily-dissected and most characteristic examples of mus- cular fibrille. Mr. F. M‘Coy on Paleozoie Corals and Foraminifera. 119 EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIL. Fig. 1. ab ed, four figures of fibrillz after Muys. — 2. “A fibre covered with cellular membrane at the upper part,”’ cross- striated and splitting up into fibrillee at one end: after Fontana. — 3. Diagram of fibrille after Bowman. — 4. Diagram to illustrate the views of Sharpey, Lealand and Carpenter: a, two fibrils united; , single fibril, with each sarcal particle ha- ving a dark central and clear outer part. — 5. Diagram of two fibrillze to illustrate the views of Mr. Erasmus Wil- son: a, usual appearance of fibrille ; b, a very much stretched fibril to show the dark and clear spaces, each divided into four. — 6. Diagram to show the fibrillze in the distinct and superficial focus : a, fibrils in distinct focus; 4, fibrils in superficial focus from the frog. — 7. Diagram of two fibrils from the lobster: @, fresh fibril much stretched, showing scalloped edges of clear space ; 8, similar fibril unstretched, showing clear space apparently dark from its nar- rowness. — 8. Diagram to illustrate a membrane observed among the fibrillz : a, membrane as seen in frog and salmon; 6, similar membrane observed among fibrillze of the muscle of skate, perfectly fresh. — 9. General appearance of a dissection of muscular fibre from the frog, magnified about 500 diameters. XITI.— On some new genera and species of Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. By FrepericK M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &e. {Continued from p., 20.] Stylaxis (M‘Coy), n. g. Gen. Char. Corallum composed of adjacent polygonal, prismatic, easily separable tubes, inter- nally divided into three areas: vertical section, 1st, a thin, flat, straight axis; 2nd, a broad in- ner area composed of nume- rous curved vesicular plates in irregular rows converging up- wards to the axis ; 3rd, an outer area on each side composed of smaller and more curved vesi- cular plates, in rows inclining obliquely upwards and out- wards: horizontal section dis- playimg the central flat axis surrounded by radiating la- 4. Mode of growth and division of mellz extending from the walls, Ste™5, 2. horizontal section ; : c. vertical section. and connected in the outer area by numerous transverse vesicular plates: additional columns 120. 3=Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of produced by a bipartite division of the parent stem parallel to one of its faces: polyps distinctly separated above. The corals of this genus bear precisely the same relation to Nemaphyllum that Stylastrea (Lonsd.) does to the Lithostrotion of the same writer (Strombodes) with regard to their mode of development, that is to say, im Nemaphyllum, as i Strombodes, the increase is by circular buds developed within the walls of the parent stem, the polygonal walls being gradually perfected by the joint labour ‘of adjacent polyps ; which it is inferred from their mode of growth, had a community of existence and organic union at the sur face, and from the same cause the columns have no outer surface to exhibit in a rough fracture, but break through the middle rather than separate one from another. In the Stylazis however, as in the Stylastrea, the new columns are produced by a sudden splitting of one of the columns into two, the divisional lines commencing along the middle of one face and going directly across to the opposite face, distinctly separating the young four-sided column at once by a double-plated, recti- linear boundary-wall parallel with one of the faces; the external strie of the old column being traceable upwards into the young one. The columns are easily separable one from another in the rough fracture, and the polyps are inferred to have been distinct from each other, and each to have constructed independently its own boundary-wall. Stylaxis major (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Tubes averaging 6 lines in diameter, mostly hexago- nal, external surface coar rsely striated longitudinally and trans- versely marked with strong curved irregularities of growth, the convexity of the curves ‘upwards: horizontal section, sixty- three slender radiating lamellze converging from the walls to- wards the flat central “style or axis, which is about 1 line in width ; one half of the lamelle reach the centre, the inter- vening ones reach half way; outer area exhibiting numerous — transverse vesicular plates between the radiating lamelle : ver- tical section, axis straight, ribbon-like; inner area broad, of slightly curved vesicular plates forming rows of lengthened irregular cells, extendimg obliquely downwards and outwards from the axis, about three in a row; outer area of rows of small hemispherically-curved plates, including small rounded cells extending very obliquely upwards and outwards, about six In each row. This species is remarkable for the large size of its tubes and great number of the radiating lamelle. From the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 121 Stylaais Flemingti (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum of very long, prismatic, generally hexagonal, easily separable tubes, averaging 3 lines in diameter ; outer surface strongly striated longitudinally, and marked with di- rect transverse rugosities of growth ; bipartite division of the columns frequent : vertical section exhibiting the thin flat axis surrounded by an inner zone of small vesicular plates inclining downwards and outwards from the axis, and an outer zone of small vesicular plates inclined in an opposite direction or up- wards and outwards: horizontal section, axis thin, half a line wide, surrounded by about forty-three thin, radiating lamelle from the walls, half of which only reach half way ; numerous small, thin, transverse connecting plates between the lamelle in the outer zone. The bipartite mode of division of the column is frequently and easily observed in this species, which commonly forms large masses. It greatly resembles externally the Stylastrea basalti- formis, but is easily distinguished by the small, but distinct, cen- tral axis visible in the transverse fracture, and further by the dif- ferent disposition of the lamellee of the immer zone. The small size of the tubes and less number of lamellz distinguish it from the Sz, ylaxis major. This is probably the Lithostrotion striatum of Fleming, (Brit. Anim.) as he particularly says, “the rays of the star unite with a small solid central axis.” I think however with Mr. Lonsdale, that he is wrong in his references. I have great pleasure in de- dicating it to so admirable a naturalist, the extraordinary merit of whose writings on the British marine animals is well known to all who engage in the same laborious and difficult study. Common in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Columnaria (Gold. as here redefined). Gen. Char. Corallum of aggregate, subparallel branches, either round and concentrically wrinkled, or more usually by mutual pressure becoming polygonal and longitudinally suleated, but always easily separable; internal structure as in Amplecus, having many transverse ‘simple diaphragms, and the walls lon- gitudinally sulcated by marginal rudimentary lamelle, which crenulate the edges of the transverse plates. Increase by fis- , sure of the parent tube or cell, as in Stylastrea (Lonsd.). Type of the genus Columnaria sulcata (Gold.). This genus has been erroneously described by Goldfuss in the first instance, and has been misunderstood by nearly every sub- sequent author—all describing radiating lamelle from the walls 122 =Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of to the centre, and stating that there are no transverse plates ; I was rather surprised therefore to find the characters I have given above, in authentic specimens from the Eifel of the C. suleata (Gold.) ; they also exist in the C. arregularis (Mimst.), C. senalis (Koninck), and ihe following. I denythe existence in those species of radiating lamelle near the centre, and find the transverse dia- phragms conspicuous. The real affinities of the genus seem to be between Michelinea and Amplecus, differing from the former in the tubes being individually distinct (as in Stylastrea) and easily senarable by fracture, and being without communicating pores ; from the latter it only differs in its compound mode of growth. As thus restricted the genus is no doubt a good one: the other dissimilar snecies placed in this genus by Dr. Goldfuss and others will easily fall into Cyathophyllum and other existing genera. wiichs' ~~ Columnaria laxa (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum forming large masses of contiguous, slightly flexuous tubes, rarely in contact ; generally round and finely wrinkled transversely, occasionally the tubes in some part of their length touch the adjoining ones, and then become poly- gonal and longitudinally sulcated ; transverse diaphragms un- dulated, and obliquely inclined in various directions ; diameter of tubes from 3 to 4 lines. The tubes being rarely in contact, and often cylindrical and flexuous, distinguishes this species from its congeners. The transverse diaphragms and absence of radiating lamelle will serve to separate prismatic portions from the other basaltiform corals found with it. Not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Michelinea glomerata (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Cells polygonal, irregularly aggregated, so as to open on every side of the large amorphous masses formed by its ir- regular mode of growth ; cells averaging 2 lines in diameter ; internal vesicular plates very irregular, much curved and highly inclined. . This is perhaps most allied to the Russian M. concinna (Lonsd.), but as that species is remarkable for the breadth, flatness and horizontality of its internal plates, so this is equally remarkable for their irregularity, convexity, small size, and nearly vertical position, forming in the sections a multitude of small rounded vesicles, without any approach to horizontality. The small size of the cells and mode of growth .seem somewhat analogous in Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 123 both, and separate them at a glance from the three other pub- lished species. Common in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire, form- ing subcylindrical masses 3 or 4 inches long. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Michelinea grandis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum widely conic, the width considerably exceed- ' ing the height, externally marked with thick, rounded, radia- ting ridges, finely wrmkled across ; polygonal cells, on the upper convex surface, averaging 5 to 8 lines in diameter (most near the former at a height of half an inch, most near the latter size at a height of 2 mches), very deep with thin walls not coated by vesicular plates, but having numerous distinct foramina and many longitudinal striz within ; internal vesi- cular plates small, very thin, much curved, forming nearly horizontal rows of vesicles at the bottom of the cells. This fine species is most allied to the M. tenuisepta (Phil. sp.), but is distinguished by the much wider conical form of the mass and by the cells having, on an average, a diameter three times greater at the same height than in that species, of which I have examined many specimens both British and foreign, and find the figures of Michelin and Koninck, as well as of Prof. Phillips, exact in this respect. Young specimens (1 to 2 inches in diameter) slightly resemble the M. favosa (Gold. sp.) in form, having the base much flatter than in the adult, but on comparison with authentic Belgian specimens they are found to be distinguished by the large rounded radiating ridges on the exterior, of which no traces exist in that species, as may be also seen from the figures of Goldfuss and Michelin ; the cells also of the present species are, even at that stage, larger, and increased growth de- stroys all resemblance. The M. megastoma (Phil. sp.), which has large cells (although much less than the present species), is distinguished by its mode of growth, it forming large flattened expansions ; internally its vesicular plates are much larger, fewer, and highly inclined at the circumference, coating the walls of the cells to their very edge, giving them a peculiar thick tumid ap- pearance, which may be imperfectly recognized in the worn specimen figured by Prof. Phillips, but which distinguishes even fragments from the other four species. Average height of the conical masses 23 inches, width 33 inches. Very common in the carboniferous limestone of Arnside, Kendal. (Col. University of Cambridge.) 124 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of Sarcinula (Lamk.). ? = Arachnophyllum (Dana). The corals of this genus are essentially composed of vertical, cy.indrical, transversely septate tubes, with radiating lamelle within, forming distant circular cells without polygonal bounda- ries ; the tubes are imbedded in a uniform cellulose tissue, from which the buds or young tubes seem to arise whenever the di- stance becomes great between any two cells, but the young tubes do not seem traceable into the old. The coral referred to by Dana (Acervularia Baltica of Lonsdale in the ‘ Silurian System ’) as the type of his genus Arachnophyllum, I find to have the cell-tubes transversely septate, though not well shown in Lons- dale’s figure—the latter genus has therefore no peculiar cha- racters—the cellular structure of the rays being common to several corals. Sarcinula tuberosa (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum forming large shapeless masses, the upper surface covered with irregular tuberose projections, separated by flat or concave spaces, and each having a depressed tubular centre 1 line in diameter, average distance between the centres 5 lines; from the margin of each centre about thirty slightly sigmoidal, very delicate lamine radiate to the adjoining ones, generally without interruption, the radii connected by nume- rous small transverse vesicular plates : vertical section, centres forming nearly vertical and subparallel cylindrical tubes, with close transverse septa, connected by exceedingly fine uniform cellulose structure, which seems formed of small depressed cells arranged nearly in horizontal layers with a double curve conforming to the projections of the surface : horizontal section shows the tubular centres connected by a minute uniform cellular structure with a scarcely appreciable radiation. This strongly resembles the so-called Acervularia Baltica of the ‘Silurian System.’ Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) “ Sarcinula placenta (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum forming tabular masses about 1 inch thick ; under side with small, concentric, imbricating undulations of growth and radiating scratch-like striz; the upper and lower surfaces parallel and flat, composed of vertical cylindrical tubes forming circular cells at the surface 1 line in diameter, and averaging about 2 lines apart ; the intervening space being flat, cellular, and obscurely radiated on the weathered surface by 7 Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 125 about thirty curved radii: vertical section, tubes irregularly transversely septate by vesicular plates; spaces between the tubes composed of slightly waved transverse rows of small, curved, vesicular plates, forming a nearly uniform, minutely pai structure : horizontal section, tubes either ‘> showing more or less of the transverse vesicular plates ; 1..- vening spaces irregularly cellular, but showing a slight dis- position to form curved, star-like lines round the tubes. This interesting coral bears a strong external resemblance to the Nemaphyllum decipiens (M‘Coy), but is distinguished by having no divisional lines between the stars in either “section. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) L Sarcinula Phillipsii (M‘Coy). Ref. ? Phil. Pal. Foss. fig. 15 D. I have given the above name provisionally to a coral which I believe to be identical with the Flintshire one figured as above by Prof. Phillips, but not named or described. It is closely allied to the preceding species, but is of a thicker growth, the tubes are one-third larger and surrounded by thirty-two to forty strong radiating lamellee extending to the adjoming tubes, and there is an obvious tendency in the middle of the transverse diaphragms to extend upwards to form an irregularly compressed solid axis, often visible in the weathered cups. Common in the carboniferous limestone of Corwen. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Astrea carbonaria (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Corallum forming very large masses, terminal stars from 9 lines to an inch and a half in diameter, obscurely pentagonal, bounded by narrow, rounded, cellular spaces (no simple divisional walls), having from 107 to 130 thin, jagged, radiating lamelle, which descend to form an oval or circular cup, and one half of which rise again to form a large oval central boss, in the centre of which “the lamellze become indistinctly blended : vertical section shows the uninterrupted passage of the loose vesicular tissue, in gentle curves, from star to star ; a very small space directly under the centre of each star having the vesicular structure almost transverse: hori- zontal section shows the alternately long and short radiating lamellee connected throughout by fine transverse vesicular plates, and the former obscurely blended at the centre (no axis), and the irregular cellular structure intervening between the adjacent stars. 126. Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of This magnificent species is the only true Astrea I have yet seen from the palozoic rocks, the numerous corals of this age described under this generic title by British and foreign authors belonging for the most part to the family Cyathophyllide, often 4 .y septate m the middle and having solid polygonal ..onal walls to the stars—characters completely at variance with those of the recent and mesozoic Astree, and indicating important differences in the animals and mode of increase. Abundant im some parts of the carboniferous limestone near Bakewell, Derbyshire; more rare in the same formation at Corwen. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Heterophyllia (M‘Coy), n. g. Gen. Char. Stem elongate, subcylindrical, irregularly fluted lon- gitudinally: horizontal section, few, distant lamelle destitute of any order of arrangement, but irregularly branching and coalescmg in their passage from the thin solid external walls towards some indefinite point near the centre, where the few main lamelle irregularly anastomose : ver- tical section showing about the middle an irregularly flexuous line (the edge of one or two of the radiating vertical lamellze), from which on each side a row of thin, distant, sigmoidally ;,, verophaliaew walecer GF curved plates extends obliquely up- stem; 6. horizontal and wards and outwards, forming a row of _ vertical section. large rhomboidal cells on each side. The paradoxical characters of the lamelle—their perfect want of symmetry of disposition, and their irregular branch-like union among themselves, together with the remarkable openness of the cellular structure, render those corals totally unhke any other recent or fossil group. From Cladocora and Caryophylha, to which they are most allied, they are distinguished by the want of the cellular axis, and by their few, unsymmetrical and anasto- mosing lamelle. I suspect the Cladocora? sulcata of Lonsdale may belong to this group, but I have not seen examples of it myself. Heterophyllia grandis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Stem slightly flexuous, about 5 lines in diameter, scarcely tapering in 3 inches, longitudinally marked with deep unequal grooves, and few, large, polygonal, unequal ridges, Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 127 giving a very irregularly angulose section to the stem ; surface smooth ; internal structure as given in the generic character. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Heterophyllia ornata (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Stems subcylindrical, long, flexuous, averaging 12 line im diameter, with about sixteen uarrow, subequal, longitudinal ridges sharply defined, and separated by flat spaces rather wider than the ridges they separate, the ridges are set with small round tubercles more than their own diameter apart ; surface very minutely granulose: internal structure as in generic character ; horizontal section, lamelle about fourteen at the margin. Rather rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Siphonodendron (M‘Cov), n. g. Gen. Char. Corallum of variously aggregated, branching, cylindri- cal or elongate-conic stems; young branches produced by lateral buds ; outer wall thin, lined by two or three rows of small vesicular plates forming a narrow outer vesicular area in both sections ; terminal cups deep, lined by numerous vertical la- melle, alternately iarger and smaller, and having in the bottom a small, prominent, tubular axis: vertical section shows a small, central, persist- Recent Lithodendron. Stphonodendron. ent, siphon-like tube @ Mode of growth «a. Mode of growth : : chy and vertical sec- and vertical sec- or axis, which pierces}. nid through a series of long, b. Horizontal section. conical or dome-shaped transverse diaphragms occupying the greater part of the width of the tube, the convexity upward, forming in this sec- tion lines diverging downwards and outwards from the axis, till they reach the narrow external cellulose layer on each side: horizontal section shows the small tube-like axis, sur- rounded usually by a few thin concentric lines which are the edges of the conoidal diaphragms cut through by the section ; 128 =Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of from these the vertical lamelle radiate to the circumference, - where they are connected by the small transverse vesicular plates forming the narrow external cellular zone. I propose this genus for a number of corals exceedingly abundant in the mountain limestone, but hitherto classed by Prof. Phillips, Mr. Lonsdale, and others with Lithodendron. This latter genus was originally proposed by Schweigger (Beobach- tungen, &c. tab. 6) to include, Ist, the Oculina of Lamarck, in- cluding the type of Blainville’s Dendrophyllia ; and 2ndly, a di- vision, which allowing the previously constituted genus Oculina to stand for the first division, becomes the real type of his ge- nus, and the four references he gives to Esper’s ‘ Pflanzenthiere’ as examples of this genus are typical examples of the group subsequently named Lobophylha by Blainville ; this latter name therefore becomes a mere synonym of Lithodendron and should be laid aside, unless, as many writers seem inclined, it be used for the short, wide species with lobed discs, and thus leave Litho- dendron for the more slender cylindrical forms : although there is no clear line of separation between the groups, it may be con- venient to retain both names for those extreme forms, but in no case can the Stphonodendra of the mountain limestone be brought in any close relation with those recent and mesozoic types. The differences are briefly these: Ist, Szphonodendron increases by lateral buds,—Lithodendron by a lateral elongation and gradual division of the old cup and dichotomous fissure of the stem; 2nd, Stphonodendron has a narrow tubular axis and wide conoidal diaphragms, while Lithodendron has a large cel- lular axis and no diaphragms. I have illustrated those pomts in the accompanying sketch. Cladocora of Ehrenberg agrees in ex- ternal form and mode of branching with Szphonodendron, but has the internal structure here represented in Lithodendron. Cladochonus brevicollis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Slender stem-like neck of each cell about 1 line long and half a line in diameter, the upper end suddenly swelling to a cup-shaped cell about 2 lines long and 1 line in diameter, curving downwards at an angle of about 135°, the point of junction of the cup and the stem giving origin, at an angle of 45°, to the stem of a second cell similar to the first, but imeli- ning in the opposite direction, and in like manner giving ori- gin from its upper convexity to a third and that to a fourth, &c. perfectly similar cell, forming together an erect, regularly zigzag corallum. From its regularly angular mode of growth or connexion of the large drooping bell-shaped cups, melining in opposite direc- ne Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 129 tions from thin short slender stems, this is one of the prettiest species of the genus. It most resembles the C. tenuicollis (M‘Coy) figured in the ‘ Annals’ for October 1847 (Pl. XI. fig. 8), from the carboniferous shales of New South Wales, but is distinguished by its smaller size and much shorter necks to the cells, while, as in that species, their small diameter compared with their cups distinguishes it from the C. crassa (M‘Coy) of the carboniferous slate of Ireland. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) (Madreporacea.) .- Dendropora megastoma (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Stem slightly flexuous, subquadrate, branches few, distant, resembling the main stem im size and shape, and coming off from it nearly at right angles; each face has a row of large oval cells with prominent edges, the sides of which have twelve vertical sulci ending in tubercles ; the cells of each row are rather less than twice their diameter apart, the lateral rows opposite and alternating with the other two rows; the width of the cells slightly exceeds that of the face on which they rest, so as to indent the margin ; interstices obscurely poroso- punctate ; width of stem about half a line. This beautiful coral is distinguished from the D. explicita \Mich.) from the Devonian beds of Boulogne-sur-Mer by its smaller size and larger cells. Michelin, in his ‘ Iconographie Zoophytologique,’ founds this genus from the last-named coral, and approximates it to the genera Criserpia and Aulopora ; the twelve sulci which I observe to the margin of the cells in this species however show that this cannot be the true affinity of the group, which must now rather be placed in the Madreporacea near Serzatopora. I have examined several specimens on a piece of carboniferous limestone from Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Paleopora (M‘Coy), n. g. Gen. Char. Corallum polymorphous, generally subhemispherical and concentrically ridged beneath, rarely branched ; formed of cylindrical, distinctly walled, tubular cells, having internally twelve vertical sulci or rudimentary lamellze, and divided at irregular intervals by transverse diaphragms ; the tubes sur- rounded and connected by a uniform minute network of small vesicular plates. I propose this genus for all the so-called Porites of the paleo- zoic rocks. First described by Goldfuss as Astr@e, they were re- Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. in. 9 130 =-Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of moved by Ehrenberg (Ueber Corallenthiere des rothen Meeres, &c.) and Lonsdale (Silurian System) to the recent genus Porites, in which they were followed—probably without examination—by many writers; Profs. Bronn (Lethza, &c.), Philips (Paleozoic Fossils) and others have however much more happily pointed out their resemblance to Heliopora. The distinct walled tubular cells visible in both sections, connected by cellular tissue, with their twelve rudimentary lamellz, distinguish the present ancient corals from the modern genera just named, for Porites has a minutely reticulated corallum impressed by shallow polygonal undefined cells on the upper surface, and presenting in the horizontal and vertical sections an uninterrupted uniformly vesicular structure. Heliopora agrees perfectly in external appearance, and in the two sections exhibits the same characters of vesicular structure connecting tubular eells with transverse diaphragms, but in it the tubes have eighteen or more rudimentary lamellz, while they are constantly twelve in the present genus, which I only know as yet in the older and middle palzozoic rocks. Fistulipora (M‘Coy), n. g. Gen. Char. Corallum incrusting, composed of long, simple, cylin- drical, thick-walled tubes, the mouths of which open as simple equal circular cells on the sur- face, and having transverse funnel-shaped diaphragms at variable distances ; interval be- tween the tubes occupied by a Fistul cellular network of small vesi- size, enveloping a crinoid stem. cular plates. b. magnified surface and section. This genus is proposed to include the Manon cribrosum (Gold.) of the Eifel, &c., and the two followimg species from the moun- tain limestone. They have no affinity with the fossil sponges of the genus Manon, with which the only previously known species was classed by Goldfuss and others, but are more allied to the so-called Porites. of the palzeozoic rocks (Paleopora, M‘Coy), from which they differ im the absence of the rudimentary radia- ting or vertical lamellze to the cell-tubes. The sides of the tubes do not seem to be ever perforated by connecting pores. Fistulipora minor (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Cell-tubes with shghtly prominent margins at the surface, about four in the space of one line, rather less than their own diameter apart, the intervening space composed of from one to three rows of the minute vesicular cells. The tubes of this species are of so small a diameter that I have Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 131 not been able to see the diaphragms ; they are from half a line to nearly an inch in length according to the age of the example, but not altering materially their diameter or relative distance. It most usually occurs incrusting crinoid stems or other foreign bodies, from which the tubes radiate to the surface, and I suspect the whole corallum, from the minuteness of its parts, may have been taken for a Favosites or Alveolites, from which the lens will easily distinguish it by showing the reticulated interstices be- tween the tubes. Not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Fistulipora major (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Cell-tubes two-thirds of a line in diameter and about their own diameter apart, their walls thick, of concentric lay- ers, with closely placed funnel-shaped internal diaphragms : interstices minutely vesicular, four to six rows of vesicular cells between each pair of tubes. The comparatively great size and distinctness of the parts of this coral enabled me first clearly to ascertain the generic pecu- harities of the whole group. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) FoRAMINIFERA. I believe no examples of this group have been hitherto deter- mined in the British carboniferous rocks, whick is the more re- markable from their great abundance in the corresponding de- posits in Russia, and according to M. de Verneuil* in America. I may mention, that since the publication of M. Ehrenberg’s paper on the carboniferous Foraminifera in the ‘Monats Bericht’ of the Berlin Academy, I have diligently sought for the several carboniferous species he deseribes in the limestone of a great number of different British localities without success. The fol- lowing is the only species I have met with, and I only know it at present from the one locality. Nodosaria fusulinaformis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Shell of two or more inflated, pyriform, easily separa- ble lodges, the first one having a small mucronate point at its posterior end, and contracted to a very slender, short neck at the anterior end, which joins the pyriform second cell, which * “ Note sur le parallélisme des dépéts paléozoiques de |’ Amérique Sep- tentrionale avec ceux de l'Europe,” &c., Bulletin de la Soc. Géol. de France, 2° série, vol. iv. Ox 132 = Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of is also contracted to a similar minute neck in front; surface smooth. Length of individual cells averaging 1 line, width two-thirds of a line. So like is this in size and shape to the inflated variety of Fischer de Waldheim’s Fusulina cylindrica oceurrmg in such quantities in some parts of the Russian carboniferous limestone, that it might easily be mistaken for it; it is destitute however of the longitudinal external fissure-like opening and complex in- ternal structure of that genus, seeming more properly allied to certain moniliform, few-celled Nodosarig, such for instance as the N. rudis and N. rugosa of M. D’Orbigny’s work on the Austrian Foraminifera, with both of which species it agrees almost perfectly. The lodges or cells are almost always found separated (from the minuteness of the connecting neck), which gives them the striking resemblance to Fusuline above alluded to; I have heard however of several of them having been found united in a line by their little necks, and I have myself seen two thus united, and the posterior cell not being a terminal one. Occurs in great numbers on the weathered surfaces of the car- boniferous limestone in the parish of Shivey, Tyrone, in the north of Ireland. (Col. University of Cambridge and Royal Dublin Society.) Exclusive of the above species, the following is a list of such British corals of the carboniferous period as I have myself noted since the publication of Morris’s Catalogue of British Fossils in addition to the species there given; it includes, Ist, some species described by foreign authors which I have recognized in Britain ; 2nd, a few Devonian species for which I give undoubted carboniferous localities ; and 3rd, those new forms which I have figured and described in the ‘ Synopsis of the Characters of the Carboniferous Limestone Fossils of Ire- land’ published some years ago, the result of an examination of the collections made in that country by Mr. Griffith of Dublin, with whose permission I now however, for the first time, publish the principal geological and geographical loca- lities, the omission of which in the work mentioned has often been regretted. All the localities except those in z¢alics are in Ireland. All the species in italics are in the Geological Museum of the University of Cambridge. The following abbreviations are used of the rocks : Ar. L. Arenaceous Limestone, a peculiar band in the middle of the yellow sandstone at the base of the carboniferous series ; Ca/p, a provincial term for a band of dark argillaceous limestone occurring between the great lower and upper limestones, accompanied in the north of Ireland by thick a Vv Paleozoic Corals and Foraminifera. 133 beds of shale and a little sandstone; C. ZL. Carboniferous Limestone generally ; C. Sh. Carboniferous Shale generally ; C. Sl. Carboniferous Slate, the shales between the base of the lower limestone and the top of the yellow sandstone, alterna- ting more or less with each at the points of junction; ZL. L. Lower Limestone, the great limestone of Ireland, between the Calp and the carb. slate; U. L. Upper Limestone, a thinner deposit than the lower limestone, occurring between the Calp and the millstone grit. Y. S. Yellow Sandstone—a thick sandstone at the base of the carboniferous system in Ireland, occupying the space between the carboniferous slate and the old red sandstone, and by many geologists considered to be- long to the latter ; I have recognised however in the shales in- tercalated with it nearly the same suite of fossils which we find in the carboniferous slate and in the Calp, and in the beds of arenaceous limestone occasionally occurring in it I have iden- tified the most characteristic fossils of the main or lower lime- stone, so that no doubt remains in my mind of the correctness of Mr. Griffith’s original view, that this sandstone forms the true base of the carboniferous limestone formation. ALVEOLITES. Goldfussi (Michel. sp.), Icon. Zooph. L. L. Hook Head, Wexford. ?palmata (M‘Coy). Jlustra id., Syn. Carb. Foss. Irel. Calp. Manor Hamilton, ASTREOPORA. antiqua (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. Irel. C. SI. Hook Point. Au.opora*, campanulata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C. SI. Hook Head. gigas (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. of Irel. © Calp. Ballintrillick. serpens (Gold.), Petrefacten. Calp. Bundoran. Berenicea? megastoma (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C. Sl. Hook Head. CanInIA. cornu-bovis (Mich.), Icon. Zeoph.. C. L. Corwen. cornu-copieé (Mich.), Icon. Zooph. C.Sh. Red Castle, Mt. Rath; Glasgow; I. of Man. flexuosa (Gold. sp.), Petrefacten. C. L. Kendal. Beet Michiel maobl C. L. Easky, Sligo. eee ee conan ts C.Sh. Castletown Bay, I. of Man. patula (Mich.), Icon, Zooph. C.Sl. Hook, Wexford, * Tf the small recent and newer fossil corals referred to the genus Alecto really belong (as seems the general opinion now) to the Polyzoa, there could be no hesitation in considering the comparatively gross palxozoic spe- cies not only as generically distinct, but as belonging to a different order— the sulcation visible within the tubesof several of the species clearly indicating rudimentary radiating lamellae, which, as they exceed twelve in number, place those corals among the Anthozoa,—imost probably, I think, near Syrin- gopora, in which a similar sulcation has been detected. Instead therefore of considering the words Alecto and Aulopora as synonymous, we may, with advantage, retain each for the peculiar section of the group indicated. 134 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new genera and species of CauNnoporRa. t placenta (Phil.), Pal. Foss. C.Sl. Poulscadden Bay, Howth. CeRIopoRA. affinis (Gold.), Petrefacten. C.Sh. J. of Man. CLApOocHONUS. antiquus (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C.Sh. Rahan’s Bay; St.John's Point, Donegal. . Derbyshire. - Derbyshire. . Lisnapaste ; Lackagh. bacularius (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. . erassus (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. CYATHAXONIA. cornu (Mich.), Icon. Zooph. C. L. Kendal. spinosa (Kon. sp.), Anim. Foss, Belg. C. L. J. of Man. DictTyorpHy.Liia. antiqua* (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C. SI]. Hook. FavositTEs. Gothlandica + (Gold.), Petrefacten. C.L. Derbyshire; I. of Man. inflata (Kon.), Anim. Foss. Belg. C. L. Kendal. FENESTELLA. antiqua (Lonsd. Devonian var.), Geol. Trans. vol. v. Y. S. Bruckless. {¢ Sl. Blackball Head, Cork ; Cur- rens; Clonea; Clonmel, &c. carinata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. a py Ke! = . L. Derbyshire; I. of Man; Tynan ; Mountmellick. p: Malahide. crassa (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Ballynacourty; Kildare. ejuncida (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss, L; L. Cork. C. L. Derbyshire. formosa (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. | cap Malahide, Dublin. U. L. Killymeal, Dungannon. frutex (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U. L. Killymeal, Dungannon. hemispherica (M‘Coy),Syn.Carb. Foss. L. L. Cork. Morrisii (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Cork. multiporata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. Gal. Sattee eal: oculata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. G.SI1. Ballynacourty, Dungarvan. C. Sl. Poulscadden. plebeia (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Cork; Howth; Derbysh. Calp. Bundoran; Ballintrillick. quadridecimalis(M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U. L. Black Lion, Enniskillen. varicosa (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U. L. Black Lion, Enniskillen. * More lately figured by Michelin (Icon. Zooph.) under the name of Michelinea compressa. + It is several years since I first published this as a carboniferous coral from a single Irish specimen, concerning the locality of which some doubt was expressed. I have now examined a large suite from the Derbyshire limestone, and compared them minutely with authentic specimens of Gold- fuss’s coral from the Eifel, and am enabled fully to confirm my original ob- servation. Palaozeie Corals and Foraminifera. 1385 Giavuconome. C. Sl. Ballynacourty; Poulscadden. bipinnata (Phil. var.), Pal. Foss. | Calp Bundoran, U. L. Killymeal, Dungannon. gracilis (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss, C. SI. Ballynacourty, Red Castle, Mt. Rath. | Catp Ballintrillick. U. L. Killymeal, Dungannon. grandis (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Meelick Chapel, Co. Clare. pulcherrima (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C.SI. Hook Head. Gorconia? Lonsdaliana (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C.L. Laracor, Trim. ziczac (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss, Ar. L. Granard. Hemitrypa. Hibernica (Sc. sp.), M‘Coy, Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Cork. | cap Ballintrillick. U.L. Knockninny; BlackLion. IcHTHYORACUIS. Newenhami (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C. L. Meelick Chapel, co. Clare. Mitiepora? gracilis (Phil.), Pal. Foss. C. Sl. Ballynacourty; Lisnapaste. similis (Phil.), Pal. Foss. C. Sl. Toberyellathan, Gort; St. Doolaghs, Dublin. ~ NeMAPHYLLUM. aranea (M‘Coy). Astrea id., Syn. Carb. Foss. C. L. Magheramore, Tobercurry. PETRAIA. A ; ; ; Y. S. Bruckless. bina (Lonsd. Devon. var.), Phil. Pal. Foss. {6 Si Comets (bailae! celtica (Lamx. sp.), Phil. Pal. Foss. C. Sl. Clonea; Knocklofty. pauciradialis (Phil. sp.), Pal. Foss. ~ C.SI. Currens; Ballynacourty. pluriradialis (Phil. sp.), Pal. Foss. C. Sl. Currens, Castle Island. PoLypPora, fs ; Ar. L. Townparks, Killeshandra. dendroides (M‘Coy). C. Sl. Red Cade: Mt. Rath. fustuosa (Kon. sp.), Anim. Foss. Belg. a e Killymesl marginata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U.L. Killymeal, Dungannon. Ar. L. Townparks, Killeshandra. papillata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. ' L. L. Rathgillen, Nobber. U. L. Black Lion, Enniskillen. C. L. Derbyshire. verrucosa (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. C. Sh. Routes Mt. Rath. PTILoporRa. pluma (Se. MSS.), M‘Coy, Syn. Carb. Foss. C. Sl. Poulscadden, Howth; Hook. \E L. Kildare. Calp. Malahide. ReETEPORA. undata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. L. L. Kildare. SIPHONODENDRON,. pauciradiale (M‘Coy). Lithodendron id., Syn. Carb. Foss. C, L. Magheramore, Tobercurry, 136 Mr. H.E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. STENOPORA. scabra (Rafin. sp.). Favosites id., Kon, Anim. Foss. Belg. C. Sl. Hook ; Clonea; Currens. Srromsones (Lithostrotion, Lonsd.). emarciatum (Lonsd. sp.), Geol. Russ. and Ural. C. L. Derbyshire. VINCULARIA, ; Page 5 : L. L. Howth; Kildare. dichotoma (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb, Foss. { UL. Black Lion, Enniskillen. megastoma (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U.L. Killymeal. raricostata (M‘Coy), Syn. Carb. Foss. U. L. Killymeal, Dungannon. XIV.—Supplementary Notices regarding the Dodo and its Kindred. Nos. 1,2, 3. By H. EB. Srricxxianp, M.A., F.GS. Onr of the main objects which Dr. Melville and myself had in view, in publishing our recent work on the Dodo and its Kindred, was to draw the attention of others to this interesting historico- physical investigation, and thus to elicit from all quarters such additional items of information as had escaped our own research. Many a curious scrap of Dodo-knowledge is doubtless still buried in the holes and corners of libraries, museums, and picture-gal- leries, and many a precious bone-fragment still moulders in the caverns and alluvions of the Mascarene Islands. Already, in the short interval since our publication saw the light, have several important links been added to the cham of evidence there dis- played,—partly through the kind diligence of our friends, and partly by our own more recent researches. These supplementary facts I propose to communicate from time to time to the ‘ Annals of Natural History.’ 1. Historical evidence of the Dodo.—I grieve to be obliged to record that Oxford, the cradle of so much learning, now stands convicted of having been the grave, not of one Dodo (as was hitherto supposed), but of rwo. A small dingy MS. volume has lately been purchased by the fellows of Queen’s College, Oxford (I dare not say at what price), from Mr. Rodd the bookseller. This precious but unattractive little book is the original autograph diary of Thomas Crossfield, once fellow of Queen’s, and extends over fourteen years, from 1626 to 1640. Amidst a variety of matters, some of historical interest, and others ‘ of no importance to any but the owner,” we find the following curious passage, which was first detected, and kindly communicated to me, by the Rev. Dr. Bliss. Page 68. “1634. Spectacula Oxon in hoc anno. 1. The Palsgraves Family. 2. His mates Hokus Pokus. 3. Dancing vpon the rope. 4. Hierusalem in its glory, destruction. Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. 187 The story deuided into 5 or 6 parts, invented by Mr. Gos- ling, sometimes schollar to Mr. Camden, enginer, who Br- STOWED THE Dopar (A BLACKE INDIAN BIRD) VPON Y® Anatomy scHooLe. His wife dying left him some meanes in a chest, w°? a maide seruant cunningly getting y® key of her master, conveyed away, and soe he now glad to get his liuinge by vseing his wits for such ventions.” How Mr. Gosling obtained his “ Dodar,” or what subsequently became of it, we have not a particle of evidence. The contents, and even the locality, of “ y® Anatomy schoole ” of 1634 are alike unknown, the existing Anatomy school having been founded about 1750, independently of any previous establishment. One thing is certain, that this “ Dodar ” was not the same individual as the one which subsequently formed one of the treasures of the Ashmolean Museum, which was “ordered to be removed” in 1755, and whose head and foot are fortunately still in existence. For we have the clearest evidence that the latter specimen was in Tradescant’s private collection at Lambeth in 1656, and was not transferred to Oxford till 1683 (see ‘The Dodo and its Kin- dred,’ pp. 23, 32). Two Dodos have therefore existed, at suc- cessive periods, in the venerable repositories of Oxford University, where the naturalist from the remotest parts of Europe now makes the mouldering relics of one an object of pilgrimage. I may here mention, that the preservation of these relics is due not so much to Fortune as to old Ashmole himself. In his original regulations for the management of his museum, it is enacted that when any of the specimens were found to be in bad condition, they should not be wholly destroyed, but the hard parts, such as the heads and feet, should be put away in a closet ; and to this judicious proviso of the old astrologer we are pro- bably indebted for the most important evidences now existing on the structure of the Dodo. 2. Affinities of the Dodo.—I have received from that excellent osteologist, Mr. Thomas Allis of York, the fullowing interesting communication, relating to a point in the anatomy of the Dodo which Dr. Melville and I had overlooked, but which wholly con- firms our conclusions. “Qn looking at plate ix* I immediately perceived strikingly confirmatory evidence of your views as to the Columbidine affi- nities of the Dodo, unnoticed either by thyself or by thy talented coadjutor, in his elaborate anatomical description of the head of that. bird. This evidence consists in the number of the sclerotic plates. At the Zoological Section of the British Association at Liverpool I exhibited dissections of the sclerotic ring of about seventy birds; among the seventy there were three species of 138 Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. Columbide ; each of these three had eleven plates in the sclerotic ring ; being the precise number figured in the Dodo. No other bird had a similar number, and none so small a number, with the single exception of the Australian Podargus, in which bird the sclerotic rmg is composed of one single bone, without the smallest trace of a division into separate plates. No abstract of my paper on the subject was published in the proceedings of that meeting, and its contents were never made public. “T exhibited the rings of eight species of Raptores; the smallest number of sclerotic bones in this order was fourteen ; and seven species of Gallinide, thirteen being the smallest num- ber of plates. “TI thought this confirmatory evidence of the correctness of your views could not be otherwise than acceptable to thee ; if thou considerest it of sufficient importance to deserve to be made _ known through one of our scientific periodicals, be so good as to get it inserted. “Thy sincere friend, : “THomas ALLIS.” Let me here, in passing, express an earnest hope that some means may be found of giving to the public the benefit of the valuable and original researches of Mr. Allis, which have hitherto been retained in MS. by that “great difficulty” of natural-history- authors, the expense of illustrative engravings. 3. Historical evidences of the Solitaire——In a recent explora- tion of the precious collection of foreign periodicals in the Bod- leian library, I discovered a work of which I had long been in quest, the ‘ Mémoires de la Société Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres de Nancy,’ 4 vols. 12°, Nancy, 1754-1759. The Pre- sident of the Society, M. d’Heguerty, had been governor of Bourbon about 1734, and in a discourse which he delivered March 26, 1751, he entertammed the Nancy savans with an ac- count of the Mascarene Islands. Speaking of Bourbon, he men- tions pintados, partridges, and other birds, but says nothing of the brevipennate birds of that island, though we have proof that they still existed in the time of La Bourdonnaye, d’Heguerty’s successor (see ‘ Dodo and its Kindred,’ p. 60). He atones how- ever for this omission by the following interesting notice of the Solitaire of Rodriguez, which is the more valuable as our previous historical evidence of that bird was almost wholly confined to the single testimony of Leguat. We now find that this bird survived from the time of Leguat’s visit, 1693, down to about 1735, and that, like the Dodo, it was capable of being kept alive in con- finement. At vol. i. p. 79, M. d’Heguerty says, speaking of Rodriguez : Mr. F. M‘Coy on the Tail of Diplopterus. 139 “On y trouve aussi des oiseaux de différentes especes, que Pon prend souvent A la course, et entre autres des Solitaires, qui n’ont presquw’ pomt de plumes aux ailes; cet oiseau, plus gros quwun Cygne, a la physionomie triste ; apprivoisé on le voit tou- jours marcher 4 la méme ligne, tant qu’il a d’espace, et retro- grader de méme sans s’en écarter. Lorsqu’on en fait ouverture, on y trouve ordinairement des Bézoards, dont on fait cas, et qui sont utiles dans la médecine.” XV.—Reply to Sir Philip Egerton’s Letter on the Tail of Di- plopterus. By Freprrick M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. GENTLEMEN, Cambridge, Jan. 13th, 1849. Str Puizie Ecerron has written a letter in your last Number, from which it would appear that I had acted unfairly towards Prof. Agassiz in my description of the diphycercal type of tail in the November Number of your Journal, by remarking that Agassiz called the tail of Diplopterus ‘ heterocercal,’ and leaving it to be inferred that the ordinary heterocercal form was intended. Sir P. Egerton does not deny the accuracy of my description and figure of the tail of this genus and its difference from the true heterocercal type; and though no one comparing them with Agassiz’s work will see any resemblance, yet Sir Philip Egerton endeavours to show that Agassiz gave the same characters that I do, by suppressing in his letter all allusions to those passages in Agassiz’s writings which state without reserve that the genus was heterocercal, and by quoting a certain passage (giving a very imperfect notion of the tail however) in which the exist- ence of rays above the spine is mentioned. I will not ask why Sir Philp Egerton only gave you the quotation from Agassiz’s work as far as he did? or why he did not quote it entire? But I supply the missing line of the quotation : ‘‘ La caudale est tron- quée presque verticalement, et la colonne vertébrale finit a son angle supérieure ;” and I may add to this (what Sir P. Egerton also omits to mention), that in the restored figure of the genus (tab. E), combining his latest information in the same work, Agassiz figures Diplopterus with a heterocercal tail perfectly iden- tical with that of Osteolepis figured on the same plate, which is one of the most perfectly heterocercal fishes we know. This figure too is in accordance with the above omitted portion of the quotation, and with the prevailing theory that none but hetero- cercal-tailed fishes lived at those ancient periods ; it shows that the quotation given by Sir P. Egerton did not imply a knowledge 140 On the Ganoine of some Fish-teeth. : on the part of Agassiz of the structure which I have pointed out in my paper; and it also shows the author’s interpretation of what portion of rays are seen above the spine in fig. 1. pl. 18. of the Monog. of the Old Red Fishes, which Sir P. Egerton states to be a good representation of the structure (although he does not mention that fig. 2 of the same plate represents it as perfectly heterocercal). Will Sir Philip Egerton compare Agassiz’s restored figure referred to, with mine im your Journal, and say that that is right and mine wrong? or will he say that his figure and the above portion of the quotation are not as clear definitions of the heterocercal type of tail as it is possible to give? I trust these observations will show, that whatever “unfairness ” may be in this discussion is not on my side; and I may assure Sir Philip Egerton, that not for all the palzeontolo- gical discoveries in the world would I misrepresent the writings of any one, much less of Prof. Agassiz, for whose brilliant talents, extensive learning, and enormous service to natural science, no one can have a more profound veneration than myself. With regard to my “ using the cancelled specific appellation latus when speaking of the Coccosteus decipiens,” I must beg to refer Sir Philip Egerton to the Rules for Nomenclature published by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for the reasons which have influenced me in retaining the original name. I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, Freperick M‘Coy. XVI.—Reply to Prof. Owen’s Letter on the Ganoine of some Fish- teeth. By FrepErick M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. GENTLEMEN, Cambridge, Jan. 13th, 1849. In reference to Prof. Qwen’s letter in your last Number, will you favour me by the neji of a few lines ? In your Number for August last, I published a notice of some fossil fish, and in describing the teeth used the new term “ ga- noine”’ to designate a peculiar modification of “ dentine,” which, from forming the hard polished surface of those teeth, had been confounded with true enamel by nearly all writers on fossil fish. To define the term, I briefly defined the tissue for which I used it, and its anatomical distinction from “enamel.” Prof. Owen writes to point out that he had observed the distinction himself, as indeed every anatomist must who looks at a slice of tooth through a microscope ; yet in the note to his letter he cites a Mr. J. Miers on the genus Witheringia. 141 case from his “Odontography,’ where he had himself inadver- tently called it “enamel” in describing a fossil tooth (Peta- lodus), although in other places he had described it as it isa Prof: Agassiz I believe in all his descriptive characters has ealled it “ enamel,’ and so have most writers. The case therefore stands now as before, namely, that a peculiar modifi- cation of tissue exists im certain fish-teeth, very different from “ enamel,” yet confounded with it by many writers, frequently called “ enamel” in the technical descriptions, and for which no other term had hitherto been proposed ; my object now is to state, that in proposing the term “ ganoine”’ for the sake of brevity and accuracy in the descriptions of the fossils I was engaged on, I by no means intended to impute ignorance of its structural peculi- arities to any preceding writer. If I had been aware that Prof. Owen had used the word in question orally at his lectures for the polished part of ganoid scales, and that he would have preferred “ vitro-dentine ”’ for the dental tissue, I should of course have used it also; but as those terms have not been so published, while mine is already current, it is scarcely possible I think to make a change now without producing more confusion than the change would be worth. I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, Freperick M‘Coy. XVII.—Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. WITHERINGIA. Tue following observations will I hope serve to throw some light upon this hitherto obscure genus. It always appeared to me that the Witheringia picta, as figured by Martius (Nov. Gen. tab. 227), must either form the type of a very distinct group, or be considered as a very good illustration of that genus, for which reason I refrained from publishing what I had long ago observed on the subject, until I could satisfy myself of the absolute cha- racter obscurely indicated by L’Heritier, in regard to his typical species W. solanacea (Sert. Angl. 38. tab. 1). Under this un- certainty (in a note, Lond. Journ. Bot. iv. 353) [alluded to the unsuccessful search I had everywhere made for some specimen, or better details, of the plant in question, so as to be able to com- prehend the limits and features of the generic character of Witheringia, and I expressed my regret that the origimal type no longer existed in L’Heritier’s herbarium in the British Museum, as that would at once have cleared up this ambiguity. Dr. 142 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Witheringia. Sendtner has since come to a more decided conclusion, by pro- posing Martius’s plant before alluded to as the type of a new genus, which he calls Athenea; but I am not aware upon what grounds he holds it distinct from Witheringia, nor can I learn that he has given any determined limits of this latter genus. From observations lately made, it appears to me that farther uncertainty on this pot need not be entertained, and I propose therefore, to offer my reasons, founded on the facts now demon- strated, for justifymg the conclusions thus formed. In Sir Wm. Hooker’s most valuable herbarium there exists among Goudot’s collection from Columbia, a plant which appeared to me to be a Saracha, except that its habit is rather more suffruticose and erect than most species of that genus, and its flowers smaller and fewer than usual: on examining this more attentively and com- paring it carefully with the figure and description of L’ Heritier’s plant, I could not do otherwise than conclude that it was very closely related to his Witheringia solanacea, and as such may well serve, in the absence of the original, as a substitute for the type of what he intended as that genus. I have also compared this Columbian plant with the descriptions given by Prof. Kunth of several fruticose species, which he arranged in the same genus, and at the same time have examined several analogous plants from intertropical America, either closely allied or nearly iden- tical with these last-mentioned species; and finally, I have com- pared these with the Witheringia hirsuta, Gardn., a species that does not seem to differ from the W. picta, Mart., collating this at the same time with Von Martius’s excellent description and figure of this latter species before quoted: all these forms ex- hibit a gradation from Saracha on the one hand to Acnistus on the other. But Witheringia, according to modern authors, is made to embrace a number of heterogeneous species, and it 1s obvious that, without taking into account L’Heritier’s plant, all the remaining species in the herbaceous section enumerated by Dr. Walpers (Repert. iv. 29) do not belong to that genus, being mostly referable to a very distinct section of Solanum, probably a good subgenus. Throughout the vegetable kingdom we find individuals pos- sessing aberrant characters, and exhibiting an intermediate state between the artificial limits of our botanical distributions, or par- taking of their mutual extremes, and this is as fully apparent in the Solanacee as in any other family. Thus, many experienced botanists have found it difficult to determine whether certain in- dividuals should be referred to Petunia or Salpiglossis, plants not only belonging to separate genera, but hitherto placed in distinct natural orders. In like manner it may be doubted whether cer- tain plants should be referred to Physalis, when they are seen Mr. J. Miers on the genus Witheringia. 143 to be scanty of the very remarkable character that distinguishes most of its species, viz. the remarkable growth and extreme in- flation of the calyx in fruit; and so also in the approximate ge- nus Saracha, individuals are sometimes observed, where, com- bined with a calyx not sensibly increasing in size, they present a corolla deeply campanulate, marked with large coloured spots, and a pentangular border so characteristic of Physalis: in these equivocal points of structure, it appears to me we may call in the aid of their general habit in order to determine the genus to which they should be referred, for in Physalis the inflorescence will be found to be universally 1-flowered in each axil, while in Saracha it is as uniformly more or less distinctly umbellate. Thus likewise in Acnistus, a genus with Cestrum-like flowers, we have a very variable length of the tube of the corolla, which in A, umbellatus is hardly distinguishable from the section Che- nesthes of Iochroma ; while in A. arborescens (the original Cestrum cauliflorum of Jacquin, Hort. Scheenb. tab. 825) the tube is so short as to leave no possible distinction between this genus and that called Witheringia by Kunth, as will be hereafter demon- strated. Now, as will be hereafter shown, neither Witheringia so- lanacea, nor the Columbian plant here alluded to as being so closely allied to it, can be distinguished from Saracha ; they have both a 5-partite calyx, a rotate corolla deeply cleft, stamens ari- sing from triangular expansions originating at the base of its short tube, and the fruit is a pisiform berry supported on a calyx that does not materially increase in size ; the peduncle is bifur- cate, and forms a 2-flowered umbel as in many species of Sara- cha; and to make this analogy still more complete, although the stem is somewhat lignescent and perennial at base as in some species of this last-mentioned genus, their branches are in like manner herbaceous, and L’Heritier describes Witheringia sola- nacea as possessing the same kind of large tuberose root as in the Saracha jaltomata, Schlect.: for all which reasons I have no hesitation in referring all these plants to one genus. Of the fruticose species hitherto included in Witheringia, there are evidently two distinct groups, the several Columbian species enumerated by Kunth, and the Brazilian species of Martius : the former are distinguished by having extra-axillary fascicles, gene- rally of numerous, sometimes of very few flowers, always upon simple peduncles, and not umbellate as in Hebecladus ; the calyx is always distinctly tubular, with an almost entire margin, and five very minute distant teeth, not 5-partite as observed in Hebe- cladus, Saracha, and Witheringia picta; the corolla is tubular, with a 5-partite border, not so decidedly long and infundibuli- form as in Hebecladus and Acnistus; the berry is small, seldom 144 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Witheringia. exceeding the size of a peppercorn, and is supported on a small per sistent and nonaugescent calyx ; it is not one-tenth the size of the large oval berry inclosed within its increasing calyx, which is seen in. Witheringia picta; the positive characters here alluded to will be found to approach very closely to Acnistus, and to be quite incompatible with the plants of the other group referred to. From these several facts the inference is irresistible, that Witheringia solanacea should at once be referred to Saracha, and that Witheringia macrophylla, W. ciliata, W. mollis, W. rhom- boidea, W. dumetorum and W. riparia of Prof. Kunth, together with some others, form a distinct group, which I propose to call Brachistus, and that the genus Witheringia as defined by L’He- ritier must fall upon that group of plants, of which the Wthe- ringia picta, Mart., may be considered the type. These are di- stinguished by an inflorescence either solitary or fasciculate in each axil or dichotomy of the branches, in which latter cases they arise successively at different periods, so that we see in each fas- cicle, every gradation of development from the nascent bud to the ripened fruit: the peduncle is always 1-flowered, slender and drooping in the young flower, but it grows much longer, becomes rigidly erect, and is considerably thickened towards the apex, in fruit: the calyx is 5-partite, the corolla has a very short tube, and a deeply 5-cleft rotate border, with the stamens arising from triangular extensions a little above the base of the tube, as in Hebecladus and Saracha : the berry is large, oval, and wholly in- eluded within the enlarged calyx, and the form of the embryo of its seed is spiral. It may be urged that the name of Saracha should give place to that of Witheringia, but such a change would answer no good purpose, and could not be effected without great confusion, a very unnecessary creation of synonyms, and the annihilation of a genus long recognized. The recommendation above suggested appears to me the only proper course to pursue, and in adopting it, we do not violate the rule of priority, as L’ Heritier’s plant was only a cultivated specimen, the place of whose origin is still quite unknown ; and as no specimen of it appears to be in existence, it is clear that as a species, and especially as the type of a genus, it must ever remain problematical: and finally, that as L’Heri- tier’s generic character remains in full force, as applied to another distinct group, the tribute intended by him to honour the me- mory of Withering is thus imviolably preserved. The genus Witheringia being thus established, it follows as a necessary con- sequence, that the Athenea of Dr. Sendtner must give place to it. The following generic character drawn up from my own observa- tions will not be found to differ materially from that of the au- thor last mentioned. Mr. J. Miers on the genus Witheringia. 145 Wirnerinera, L’Her., Mart. Athenea, Sendt.—Calya sub- campanulatus, profunde 5-partitus, persistens. Corolla rotata, tubo brevi, limbo 5-partito, laciniis oblongis, acuminatis, zsti- vatione valvata. Stamina 5, erecta; filamenta filiformia, brevia, paulo supra basin corollz mserta, imo repente triangulariter dilatata, et hime m annulum fere coalita; anthere oblonge, 2-loculares, basi emarginato-cordatz, loculis connectivo an- gusto dorsali parallele connatis, longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Ovarium ovatum, 2-loculare, ovulis plurimis, utrinque disse- pimento adnatis. Sty/us simplex, longitudine staminum, apice incrassatus, fistulosus. Stigma subintegrum, glandula gluti- nosa 2-loba semi-immersa. Bacca ovata, calyce aucto tecta. Semina compressa, rhomboideo-reniformia, in pulpam tenuem nidulantia, testa scrobiculata, subscabra, hilo perforato in sinu marginali. Embryo in albumen carnosum, subspiralis : coty- ledonibus semiteretibus, radicula 3-4-plo brevioribus.—Fru- tices Brasilienses, dichotome ramose ; folia alterna, vel gemina altero minori (in turtonibus subfasciculata), integra; flores pe- dunculati, axillares, vel in dichotomiis solitarii, bini, vel plures fasciculati, et tune alterna vice singulatim tardius enati, pedun- culo fructifero demum erecto, elongato et incrassato. 1. Witheringia picta, Mart., Nov. Gen. et Spec. ui. 74. tab. 227. Witheringia hirsuta, Gardn. Lond. Journ. Bot. i. 541. Athenza picta, Sendtn. Flor. Bras. fasc. vi. p. 1384; Walp. Repert. vi. 580. —Brasilia, Prov. Rio de Janeiro et Minas Geraés. To the long and excellent description of Von Martius above referred to, it is quite unnecessary to offer the smallest additional remark, except that Gardner’s plant which I collected at the same time does not appear to me to offer any difference from that figured by Martius, and that it is a little more hairy*: if therefore it does not belong to this species, it most probably is referable to W. pogogena. Of the following seven species I have no knowledge whatever, beyond the short notice extracted by Dr. Walpers from Dr. Sendtner’s description, to which I refer the reader. 2. Witheringia pogogena. Athena pogogena, Sendin. loc. cit. p- 185; Walp. Repert. vi.580. Solanum pogogenum, Moricand, Pl. Nouv. d& Amér. ii. 24. tab. 17.—Brasilia, Prov. Bahia. 3. Witheringia micrantha. Athenzea micrantha, Sendtn. loc. cit. ; Walp. Rep. vi. 580.—Brasilia, Villa Vicosa. * As Dr. von Martius’s admirable work is within the reach of few per- sons, and as it may be desirable to compare the above with its analogous genera, I have given a figure with full details of the structure of this species, which I first collected at Tejuca in 1833, and afterwards with Mr. Gardner in 1837 (Gardn. no. 237) ; it will be shown in the ‘ Illust. S. Amer. Plants,’ pl. 35. ” Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.2. Vol. in. 10 146 Bibliographical Notices. 4. Witheringia Schottiana. Athenzea Schottiana, Sendin. loc. cit.; Walp. Rep. vi. 581.—Brasilia, Proy. Rio de Janeiro. 5. Witheringia Pohliana. Athenza Pohhana, Senden. loc. cit. ; Walp. Rep. vi. 581.—Brasilia, Proy. Minas Geraés. 6. Witheringia Martiana. Ey “KANYU() “asunpy younpuny qo “uoysno[A *_ ‘aoy 2y7 49 pun SaurHsS-saruswaAg ‘asunpy yzunsarddy yo ‘requagq *A\ ‘Aey ay7 49 § NOLSOg aD \[RaA “AIM £9 SuopuoryT unaw ‘xOIMSIND Jy Ajarv0g younynoryuozy ay] fo Uapavxy ayg Jo uosdwoyy, ayy 49 apyw suoyvauasgy porrsojo.oajapy THE ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. [SECOND SERIES. ] No. 15. MARCH 1849. XVIII.— Observations upon several genera hitherto placed in Solanaceze, and upon others intermediate between that family and the Scrophulariacez. By Joun Mtzrs, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. &e. My attention during the last few years having been directed to the study of the Solanaceae, I have given the results of this in- quiry in a series of memoirs in the ‘ Lond. Journ. Bot.,’ vols. iv., v. and yii., and also in the ‘ Illustration of South Amer. Plants,’ where delineations are offered of the peculiar features of each genus. Having at length completed the analysis of the remain- ing genera of this order, the results will be given in succession in this Journal ; but in order to explain my views in regard to that family, the following observations are necessary. Followimg the track I had marked out as the basis of these investigations, which has been chiefly to satisfy myself by careful analysis of the true limits that serve to separate different genera, I have encountered a number of facts which are very difficult to reconcile with our present distribution of the Solanacee, and which have induced me to carry this inquiry much further than was at first contemplated. These results having been published at intervals, as they presented themselves, the order in which they have appeared is necessarily imperfect in a systematic pomt of view ; but as my principal object has been to arrive at truth, I expect some degree of indulgence, for what may appear as de- fects of arrangement and want of plan. I have alluded to the increasing number of novel cases that have offered themselves during this inquiry, which render it difficult to decide whether certain genera should be classed in Solanacee or in Scrophula- riacee, as these natural orders are at present considered ; and in consequence of the accumulation of these anomalies, it appears at length necessarily expedient to draw a more certain line of distinction between these two important natural orders. This difficulty is not new in the history of the science, for nearly forty Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. 1. 11 162 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. years ago it did not escape the acute penetration of our distin- guished countryman Mr. Robert Brown, who then suggested the plan of avoiding it by the establishment of an intermediate family*. Another of the great botanists of our time, Mr. Ben- tham, who has made the Scrophulariacee one of the chief objects of his study, and to whom we are indebted for the admirable monograph of that order in the 10th volume of the ‘ Prodromus’ of DeCandolle, published only two years ago, although evidently aware of this necessity, has never carried it into execution: the tribe of the Salpiglossidea, which he placed at the head of the Scro- phulariacee, was manifestly framed under a point of view bearing toward this end; and in the addenda to the same volume of the ‘ Prodromus,’ p. 595, he offers some remarks upon what I had previously hinted, respecting the separation of the genus Lyciwm from the Solanacee (Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 183). The establishment of the Salpiglossidee in the manner just mentioned, has however in no degree removed the objections be- fore existing, and from the facts which I shall now have to com- municate, these exceptions will be seen increased to a manifold amount, for it is now evident that a considerable number of ge- nera, hitherto placed in Solanacee, possess a regular corolla, with a 5-lobed border, offering an imbricate estivation, contrary to the usual structure of the order, and although possessing five stamens, one is often smaller, and sometimes sterile, showmg an evident tendency towards the structure of the Scrophulariacee ; and thus, besides Lycitwm and some of the genera of the Salpiglossidee, we have now Petunia, Nierembergia, Solandra, Juanulloa, Marckea, Hyoscyamus, Atropa, Mandragora, Nicandra, Anisodus, &c. &c., forming too important a number of exceptional cases to be passed over in neglect. Having lately examined with much care the structure of most of these genera, I am now better prepared to carry out the views, which I hinted at three years ago, in an earlier stage of this inquiry (Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 152), where I suggested the propriety of associating these dissident genera in a distinct and intermediate tribe or family. I therefore now propose definitely to confine the Solanacee as * Solanaceae, ‘a Scrophularinis distinguuntur praecipue embryone ar- cuato vel spirali et corollze zstivatione plicata, floribusque szepissime regu- laribus isostemonibus. Hine genera corolla non plicata et simul embryone recto, vel excludenda, vel cum iis corolla imbricata, embryone leviter arcuato, staminibusque didynamis in propria sectione disponenda, futuri ordinis initia.” —Prodr. p. 444. From the state of our knowledgé at that time, it is evident that these allu- sions were intended to apply principally to the Verbascee, which by Jussieu, Linnzus and most preceding botanists were classed among Solanee, but they certainly may be referred with additional force to the instances alluded to above. Mr. J. Miers on several genera hithervo placed in Solanacee. 163 nearly as possible within the limits prescribed by Mr. Robert Brown in his ‘ Prod.’ (doc. cit.), viz. to those genera with a mo- nopetalous corolla, with a 5-, rarely 4-partite border, even in ex- ceptional cases nearly regular and equal, the borders of whose lobes are always valvate or induplicato-valvate in eestivation ; epipetalous stamens, alternate with and equal to the number of the lobes, the fifth being seldom shorter and still more rarely sterile, anthers always bursting by longitudinal slits or pores ; an ovarium most generally 2-celled, rarely 3- to 5-locular, with a simple style, a bilobed or clavate stigma often hollow ; a fruit either capsular or baccate, and albuminous seeds with a terete embryo, straight, and more or less curved in a nearly annular form, or somewhat spiral, the radicle in all cases pointing to the basal angle of the seed, and turned away to some short distance from the hilum, which is generally lateral and marginal, rarely almost basal. The Scrophulariacee 1 would also propose should be confined to those genera that possess a tubular corolla more or less curved and irregular, with a 4- or 5-partite border generally unequal and bilabiate, the lobes rarely equal, but in every case with a de- cidedly imbricate zestivation ; stamens 2 or 4, didynamous, seldom with a fifth, which is very rarely fertile, often only rudimentary : an ovarium, most generally bilocular ; a simple style, with a stigma more or less bilabiate or bilobed ; the fruit almost always cap- sular (in very few instances baccate), 2-locular, rarely more-celled, bursting in various ways, with central placentz adnate to the dissepiment, and an embryo enveloped in albumen but little curved, generally with the radicle pointing to a basal hilum* ; in one solitary instance (Campylanthus) the embryo is however peri- spherically curved. In this very natural family, although the floral leaves are often alternate, the cauline leaves are most gene- rally opposite, which occurs only accidentally in Solanaceae, and the origin of the inflorescence is strictly axillary.’ Thus limited, they form a very distinct natural order. The intermediate group, which I now propose as a suborder, under the name of Atropinee, or as a new order, under that of Atropacee, will consist of genera having a tubular persistent calyx, more or less deeply divided, a hypogynous tubular corolla, with the tube more or less plicated in bud, and with a border generally divided into 5 lobes slightly unequal, but which are * According to Mr, Bentham’s authority, DeCand. ‘ Prod.’ x. p. 186, and a statement positively affirmed. by most botanists, but one which, it appears to me, must be received with some modification ; for in the seemingly truth- ful analyses of the genera figured by Nees v. Esenbeck, ‘Gen. Pl. Germ..,’ the radicle is shown as in So/anacee@, not pointing directly to the hilum. See plates of Erinus, Veronica, Wulfenia, Odontites, Euphrasia, Bartsia, Pedi- cularis, and Alectorolophus (Rhinanthus). 11* 164 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. always either imbricately disposed in estivation or arranged under some modification between that form and the plicate, but never valvate, the margins of each lobe being constantly free from those of the adjoining ones; they have generally 5 fertile epipetalous stamens, alternate with the lobes, with one of them sometimes a little shorter, 1 or 3 being very rarely sterile ; an- thers bilobed, with the lobes parallel, bursting longitudinally at the margin, one of these lobes bemg sometimes sterile ; the ova- rium 2-celled, rarely 5-locular, with ovules generally ascending, attached to fleshy placentze which are adnate to the dissepiments, as in Solanacee and Scrophulariacee, a simple style, and a bilobed stigma often of a very peculiar form ; the fruit is either baccate or capsular, the seeds generally reniform or compressed, with a lateral hilum ; the embryo, placed in albumen, is either straight or more or less curved, sometimes perispherically or spirally. They are plants with much the habit of the Solanacee, with alternate, simple or geminate leaves, many of them possessed of powerfully medicinal properties. They offer the peculiarity, distinct from Scrophulariacea, and similar to that of the Solanacee, in having the origin of the in- florescence always somewhat extra-axillary and lateral in regard to the insertion of the petiole. I propose to arrange them in the following manner :— ATROPINE OR ATROPACES. Tribe 1. Nicotianee. Corolla with an elongated fun- } nel-shaped tube, often more or less hypocrateri- form, with 5 nearly equal lobes, which are con- duplicate and then twisted in estivation, as in Convolvulus : stamens 5, one frequently shorter ; | Nicotiana, anthers 2-lobed, lobes almost free, medifixed, | Lehmannia, and without connective, bursting laterally along f Satranthus, the outer edge: capsule 2-locular with bifid | Polyclidia. valves, the margins of which are somewhat sep- ticidal, and slightly inflexed at base: seeds with a short terete embryo somewhat incurved or slightly arcuate. Tribe 2. Daturee. Corolla with an elongated fun- } nel-shaped tube, having a 5-angular expanded border with a contorted complicated estivation, as in the Nicotianee : 5 equal stamens; anthers 2-lobed, lobes linear, laterally adnate, dorsally | Datura, attached to a fleshy connective, and bursting }Ceratocaulis, longitudinally in front: fruit sub-bacécate or cap- | Brugmansia. sular, 2-celled above, 4-celled below, with the fleshy placentz adnate to the middle of the dis- sepiment : seeds with a nearly annular curved terete embryo. bf Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanaceze. 165 Tribe 3. Duboisiee. Corolla with a tube either elon- gated and ventricose above, or short and rotate, with a 5-lobed border, the lobes being diversely volutive in estivation : 5 equal stamens or 4 di- dynamous with the rudiment of a fifth ; anthers rounded, cordate, always extrorse, either 2- | Duboisia, celled, with the cells confluent at the apex, or unilocular with a hippocrepiform line of de- { Anthocercis, hiscence, and gaping transversely as in Verbas- | Anthotroche. cum: ovarium 2-locular, with numerous ovules affixed to thickened placentz adnate to the dis- sepiment: fruit either baccate or capsular, 2- valved, with septicidal dehiscence: terete em- bryo in albumen, slightly curved. J Tribe 4. Schizanthee. Corolla deeply cleft into ala ral irregular divisions, with a somewhat reci- procative zstivation : stamens 5, of which 3 are sterile ; style erect, with a small fistulose stigma, slightly swollen below, its contracted entire mar- gin filled with a globose viscous gland: capsule 2-celled, 4-valved, seeds with a terete hemicy- | clically arcuate embryo. Tribe 5. Salpiglossidee. Corolla more or less ven- ) tricose above, sometimes contracted in the mouth, the border being divided into 5 nearly equal regular segments, one of them always somewhat larger and more erect, their zstiva- tion being reciprocative (see p. 172): stamens 4, | Salpiglossis, didynamous, sometimes with the rudiment of a | Pteroglossis, fifth ; anthers 2-lobed, lobes divaricate at base, >Leptoglossis, connected at apex by intervening filament, one | Browallia. of the lobes being sometimes reduced to a small lateral dehiscent gland : style winged at its apex or expanded into a remarkable tongue-shaped process, which is stigmatose at its emargina- ture: fruit capsular, 2-locular, 2-valved : embryo slightly curved, much more so in Salpiglossis. _} Tribe 6. Petuniee. Corolla with an elongated tube, ) sometimes hypocrateriform, seldom with the ru- | diment of a palate, the border being divided into 5 nearly equal, rounded and emarginated lobes, their estivation in Petunia being replica- tive (see p. 173), in Nierembergia, replicative at the base of the lobes, with a perfectly quin- \ Petunia, cuncial imbrication at their summits: stamens 5, ‘6 Nierembergia. one of which is shorter, 2 longest; anthers 2- lobed, divaricate at base, without connective: stigma expanded into a remarkably tongue- shaped form, emarginate at its apex, in Nierem- bergia embracing the anthers : capsule and seed as in Salpiglossidee. ) > Schizanthus. $ { | 166 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. Tribe 7. Hyoscyamee. Corolla tubular, more or less } expanded in the mouth in a campanular form, | with the border divided into 5 equal rounded lobes: stamens 5, equal ; anthers 2-lobed, affixed to a narrow dorsal connective above, free below, | Hyoscyamus, and bursting longitudinally in front near the | Scopolia, margin: ovarium 2-celled, and singularly sur- >Physoclena, mounted by a fleshy epigynous gland, which is { Cacabus, either small and stylobasic, or else enveloping | Thinogeton. the upper moiety of the ovarium: fruit an ex- succous berry, which sometimes bursts by a cir- cumscissile line on the margin of the gland : em- bryo terete, annular, and somewhat spiral. Tribe 8. Atropee. Corolla tubular, more or less ) campanular, with a border divided into 5 equal | Atropa, rounded lobes, which are imbricate in estiva- | Nicandra, tion : stamens 5, equal ; anthers ovate, 2-lobed, edad 16 lobes laterally adnate, reversed in Atropa by the { Anisodus, deflexion of the filaments: fruit baccate, 2- or | Mandragora, 5-celled, fleshy, often somewhat exsuccous : em- | Lycium. bryo terete, nearly perispherical. Tribe 9. Solandree. Corolla generally with an elon- } gated, straight, rarely a short tube, in no degree plicated in bud, border 5-cleft into more or less rounded equal lobes : 5 equal stamens, generally | Solandra, epipetalous, but sometimes arising from the out- | Marckea, side of a free ring, attached to the base of the >Juanulloa, corolla; anthers oblong, 2-celled, cells parallel | Sarcophysa, and adnate upon a dorsal connective, and burst- | Ectozoma. ing longitudinally in front : fruit a fleshy 2-locu- lar berry, and seeds with a nearly straight terete embryo, with a lax testa, as in the Cestrinee. _) ‘Tribe 10. Brunsfelsiee. Corolla with a more or less ) elongated tube, somewhat ventricose below the contracted mouth, border divided into 5 nearly equal segments, their estivation being decidedly imbricative (unknown in Heteranthia) : stamens Fe 3 didynamous, somewhat inflected at the apex, | Ageia with one pair shorter; anthers unilocular and hippocrepiform, as m the Verbascee and the Du- boisiee: style slender: stigma small, bilobed, and simply clavate, or with the lobes somewhat gaping : fruit either capsular or baccate, with a nearly straight embryo. | > Franciscea, | Heteranthia. The Solanacee, Atropacee and Scrophulariacee, as here de- fined, evidently constitute an alliance, bound together by very striking and peculiar characters, distinguishable in the structure of thei corolla and ovarium, but more especially in that of their Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanaceze. 167 fruit, which is most generally 2-celled, with many seeds fixed to thickened placente adnate to the dissepiment, and having a terete embryo, more or less curved, with an inferior radicle, cha- racters that are common to the whole of this large group. So gradual is the transition from one link to another of this chain, that it is difficult to discover any decided break in their conti- nuity, but notwithstanding this, they form too large an assem- blage to constitute one single family. The Solanacee, as distin- guished from the Scrophulariacee in general, exhibit characters sufficiently marked, but the difficulty lies with the large interme- diate group above indicated, that equally partake of the features of both these extremes. I am quite averse to the practice of multiplying unnecessarily the amount of natural orders beyond the smallest possible number: it is not therefore any idle no- tion of proposing a new family that leads now to this sugges- tion, which would defeat its own object unless supported by facts, and urged by the necessity of the case ; but it is the desire of grappling with a formidable obstacle, that would otherwise prevent us from establishing any decided limits between these two great families. If this difficulty presented itself to me in so prominent a degree three years ago (Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 183, note), when I first noticed the anomaly in Lyczwm, and suggested its separation from Solanacee on that account, with how much more force must this discrepancy present itself, when the ex- ceptionable cases now amount to so extensive an accumulation in point of number! The estivation of the corolla has hitherto been considered to form an unerring line of demarcation between the Solanacee and Scrophulariacee, but if we place in the former family a large proportion of genera possessing an imbricate esti- vation, and offering frequently nearly anisomerous flowers (cha- racters peculiar to the last-mentioned order), we lose at once the only valid features that can serve to discriminate the boundaries of these great families. It is clear that the intermediate group here proposed to be collected together can only be disposed of in three modes: they must be associated either with the Sola- nacee, or be attached to the Scrophulariacee, or else they must remain as a distinct family. In the first case, the Solanacee would be then divided into two suborders: 1. the Solaninee, having a corolla with valvate zstivation ; and 2. Atropinee, with imbricate zestivation. In the second case we should associate, 1. Atropinee, with flowers nearly isomerous ; and 2. Scrophularinee, with ani- somerous flowers. In either of these two cases we find that in- consistency to a great extent would be unavoidable ; for in the former instance we admit a large circle of exceptions to the only leading characteristic mark of the order ; and in the second case we include a considerable number of genera, nearly isomerous, in a 168 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. family whose principal feature is to possess anisomerous flowers ; but in the third case we avoid these difficulties and ensure con- sistency, preserving at the same time the peculiar characteristic features both of the Solanacee and Scrophulariacee : we should then have thus, 1. Solanacee, offermg isomerous flowers with a valvate or induplicato-valvate zestivation ; 2. Atropacee, isomerous flowers, or nearly so, with imbricate or a peculiar eestivation ; and 3. Scrophulariacee, anisomerous flowers with imbricate zstiva- tion. In any of the three modes of distribution above indicated, it matters little which we adopt, in regard to the absolute ar- rangement of the various genera, for in every case they remain alike, in exactly the same linear order of position. The value of the Atropacea, as a distinct order, must now rest entirely on its own intrinsic merits: its adoption seems the only course by which a large amount of inconsistency can be removed, and it appears to me a far less objectionable plan to call up a new family, than to destroy the great landmarks that serve to discri- minate the limits of two of the most natural families in the system. Having shown the arrangement proposed for the distribution of the Atropacee, I must offer the following explanation. The division into the suborders Rectembryee and Curvembryea, as proposed by Endlicher, and followed by me in the arrangement of the Solanacee formerly given in ‘ Lond. Journ. Bot.’ v. 148, offers by far too inconstant and doubtful a character to be main- tained there, or be adopted here; for among the Salpiglossidee, some species of Petunia possess an embryo nearly straight, and more curved in others, while in Sa/piglossis it is often spirally bent into more than a complete gyration. I have preferred rather to follow the eestivation of the corolla, as it gradually verges from the plicato-valvate of the Solanacee into the imbricate wmode of the Scrophulariacee : thus in the tribes Nicotianee and Daturee we have the contorto-conduplicate, a form by no means valvate, but the first departure from it : in the Duboisiee we have another advance, where the lobes of the border are seemingly valvate, but on examination the margins will be found convolutely inflected, a form which I have named volutive: in the Salpiglossidee it -assumes the next step here denominated reciprocative : in the Petuniee we have again another degree, which is only a modifi- cation of the imbricative, and which I have termed replicative : and finally, in the Hyoscyamee, Atropee, Solandree and Bruns- felsiee, it becomes decidedly imbricative and quincuncial, as in the Scrophulariacee, with which natural order the latter tribe most closely osculates. In the Atropee the amount of imbrication is small in extent ; in the genera Brunsfelsia and Solandra it is ex- cessive in amount, the lobes’ wholly enveloping one another in Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 169 succession. I proceed now to add a few remarks upon each tribe separately. 1. Nicotianee.—The estivation of the corolla in this tribe, as has been just remarked, is by no means valvate, or induplicato- valvate, as in the Solanacee, the lobes of its border being on the contrary conduplicate, that is to say, the sides are turned inwards, and each lobe is thus folded separately on its inner face, along the central nervure, the sides closely pressed together, the mar- gins being quite free from those of the adjoiming lobes, and thus plicated, they all possess a spirally twisted inclination in the bud. This approaches the estivation of the Salpiglossidee, to which tribe they offer a still nearer affinity m having the fifth stamen very often shorter, with the other four somewhat didynamous. It is for these reasons that I have removed the Nicotianee from the Solanacee, where I formerly placed them. 2. Daturee.—With this very natural group Solandra has been associated by most botanists, but it evidently possesses a very different relationship. The Daturee are remarkable for their large showy flowers, and they ali present an estivation similar to that of the Nicotianee, only more decidedly contortive and quite distinct from the valvate preefloration of the Solanacee. Brug- mansia I consider as most decidedly distmect generically from Datura, with which it is associated by most botanists, differing in many points of structure, and forming arborescent shrubs, sometimes even tall trees, with long pendent trumpet-shaped flowers of an unusually large size. 3. Duboisiee.—The genera composing this very distinct group were partly included by Mr. Bentham (Prodr. DeCand. x. 191) in his Salpiglossidee ; these are Duboisia and Anthocercis, to which Prof. Endlicher added Anthotroche, a genus which by the former has been referred to Solanacee. In proposing to alter the decisions of so distinguished a botanist as Mr. Bentham, who, from the accuracy of his observations and the solidity of his con- clusions, stands deservedly as one of the first botanists of our time, it becomes necessary that I should offer some extremely valid reasons for the changes now suggested, and accordingly I will offer a few remarks on each genus in succession. a. Duboisia appears to me to have no relation with any genus belonging to the Scrophulariacee. Its only species was originally described by Mr. Brown in his ‘ Prodr’ p. 448, who placed it, together with Anthocercis, in a second section of Solanee. The habit of this plant, as well as the structure of its flowers, are there stated to agree with those of Myoporum, whence it derived its specific name: the figure given of this plant by Endlicher in his ‘ Iconographia,’ pl. 77, sufficiently agrees with other Myo- peraceous plants there designed. On examining a specimen of 170 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. the same plant in Sir Wm. Hooker’s herbarium, I noticed one very important character that has been quite overlooked by all preceding observers: the anthers are here decidedly extrorse, instead of the usual introrse direction before assigned to them. This circumstance brings Duboisia in close connexion with the two following genera, and at once removes them from the tribe of the Salpiglossidee. 8. Anthocercis.—I was glad to avail myself of the opportu- nity of investigating the structure of the flowers in this genus from a plant in the living state of A. viscosa. It agrees with the figure given by Endlicher in his ‘ Iconographia,’ tab. 68, of A. littorea, with the exception of the very important feature of the structure of the anthers, which, as in tbe preceding genus, offer the very distinct peculiarity of being affixed extrorsely just above the sinus upon the filament, so that the lines of dehiscence are towards the tube of the corolla, not mtrorsely towards the centre of the flower, as appears represented in the plate above referred to. The estivation of the corolla in Anthocercis viscosa is also very peculiar: at first sight it would be said to be induplicato- valvate, but upon more careful examination it / will be observed that each lobe of the border is \j 3 distinctly supervolute, one of its edges being | rolled inwards and overlapped by its opposite f edge; these are not all turned in one direction, | two beimg dextrorsely, and the other three coiled }¥y up alternately in a smistrorse order. This mode of zestivation is certainly extremely unusual and {) peculiar, approaching that observed in the Goode- noviacee, on which on a former occasion (Lond. Journ. Bot. vii. p.59) I have made some observa- tions. There exists between them this difference, that here each lobe is longitudinally and super- volutely coiled round upon itself, in a somewhat spiral form, while in Goodenia the winged margins are respec- tively folded back over one another, upon the plane of the cen- tral portion of each segment. I have also examined in the dried state the flowers of A. littorea, A. albicans, A. Tasmanica and A. scabrella, and they all appear to offer the same kind of esti- vation and similarly extrorse anthers, so that these appear to be constant characters. It is worthy of remark, that the peculiar smell of the leaves and flowers of Anthocercis viscosa resembles that of the Myoporacee, and that its pedicels are bibracteated, which is also a feature in that family ; but its extra-axillary pe- duncles, the zestivation of its corolla, the position of its stamens, its bilocular ovarium with numerous ovules attached to a thick- Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacere. 171 ened placentiferous dissepiment, its many-seeded capsular fruit, and its slightly curved embryo with an inferior radicle, are cha- racters quite opposed to its admission into that family. Nor can these be made to harmonize either with the Scrophulariacee or Solanacee, to the latter of which they offer a nearer affinity. These characters are sufficiently prominent and distinct, and de- mand a more attentive investigation. y. Anthotroche—This genus was placed by Prof. Endlicher in Serophulariacee, among the Salpiglossidee, but it has been since excluded from the order by Mr. Bentham, and referred to Solanacee (DeCand. Prodr. x. p. 586). It appears to me how- ever to have as little relation with the one as with the other of these families. Upon examiming a specimen belonging to this genus from Swan River, I find that in the structure of its anthers it agrees entirely with that just described as existing im Duboisia ; this consists of one reniform unilocular cell, fixed extrorsely on the filament, and dehiscing on the exterior face by one hippocre- pical suture. Here the tube of the corolla is short and straight, and the border is divided into five regular lobes, which are ro- tately expanded; the stamens are 5 and equal. The ovarium has an epigynous prominent stylobasic gland as in Cacabus, ana- logous to that of Hyoscyamus. Respecting the Duboisiee it only remains to be observed, that the main points of distinction between it and the other tribes with which it is here associated, will be found to exist in the ex- trorse direction of the anthers and the singular estivation of the corolla, peculiarities which, although very remarkable, are not of themselves of sufficient importance to claim for the plants that compose it the rank of a separate family, but they constitute a very distinct tribe of the Atropacee. It will consist of two sec- tions: 1. Huduboisiee, with baccate fruit, and 2. Anthotrochee, with capsular fruit, comprising Anthocercis and Anthotroche. It corresponds with the other tribes of the Atropacee in the ori- gin of the floral peduncles being lateral with respect to the point of insertion of the petiole. A. Schizanthee.—The genus Schizanthus, from the lateral extra-axillary insertion of its pedicels and other characters, ap- pears evidently to belong to the Atropacee rather than to the Scrophulariacee, but 1t does not accord with any of the tribes above noticed. It differs from them in the structure of its an- thers, which consist of two parallel cells, quite distinct and sepa- rated from one another, but conjomed by a broad membranaceous connective, upon which they are dorsally attached: it possesses five stamens, of which three are quite anantherous and rudimental ; the corolla is deeply cleft into numerous unequal segments which have an imbricate estivation. Its stigma approaches the form 172 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. of that of Heteranthia: its fruit is capsular as in the Salpiglos- sidee, and its seeds contain a terete embryo, curved in an almost spiral form. Its leaves are always alternate and deeply pinnati- sected, showing an approach to Salpiglossis and Pteroglossis. The abortion of three of its stamens is an irregularity of which we find a parallel case in Janthe, which only differs in that re- spect from Verbascum ; and the deeply laciniated divisions of its corolla is another abaigernial feature, but this may be considered only as a separation of the lobes of the corolla at each sinus, or a return to its five normal divisions, with a still farther cleavage of each lobe, by an extension in an ‘excessive degree of the inci- sions commenced in the emarginatures of all the lobes of the border in Salpiglossis, which thus shows a tendency towards the laciniated form of the corolla of Schizanthus. 5. Salpiglossidee.—lI have ventured to remove this tribe wholly from the Scrophulariacee for the reasons that will be here fully explained, and as these are founded upon facts in great measure new, | may confidently expect that such an arrangement will meet with the concurrence of the author of the able monograph of this last-mentioned family, who in detailing the characters of the tribe in question, as given in the Prodr. DeCand. x. p. 190, goes the length of saying, “ subordo Solanaceis capsularibus arcte affinis, et forte melius eis adsociandus.” I propose however to remove from it several of the genera there associated. They form an extremely natural group, distinguished by the very peculiar eestivation of their corolla, their didynamous stamens, or where a fifth occurs it is invariably sterile, and they are especially conspi- cuous for the remarkable dilatation of the stigma, which at once signalizes them from the others. Their place is manifestly among the Atropacee, with which they agree in having the ori- ein of the pedicels always somewhat lateral in regard to the floral leaflet or bract, not decidedly axillary, as in the Scrophulariacee. They are all herbaceous plants, generally clothed with viscid glandular pubescence, and the campanular portion of the tube of the corolla is plicated in estivation ; but the lobes of its border are first conduplicate, with the margins always free from those of the contiguous lobes, and twisted inwards in a peculiar man- ner, for which I have proposed the term reciprocative*, a con- dition intermediate between the induplicato-valvate zstivation of the Solanacee and the imbricate preefloration of the Scrophu- lariacee ; in order to render this more evident, the accompanying * It may he thus defined: stivatio reciprocativa, 2. e. lobi superioris exterioris marginibus utrinque induplicatis, loborum alterorum simpliciter conduplicatis, 2 sinistralibus dextrorsim, 2 dextralibus sinistrorsim torsive convolutis, marginibus sese applicitis et a contiguis liberis postice spectan- tibus, plicaturis antice inclinantibus. aol Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 173 figure is given in the margin; fig. 1 being the corolla viewed sideways; fig. 2, ditto seen in front ; fig. 3, ditto seen from above. I have added to this group a new genus, Pteroglossis, founded upon a plant collected in the north of Chile by Bridges (his No. 1889). In Salpiglossis the two broadly expanded lips of the stigma appear al- most confluent into a tongue-shaped process, while in the other genera they are more or less distinctly separated and 2-lipped, especially in Leptoglossis and Browallia ; but im Pteroglossis one of the lips appears altogether wanting, or reduced to a small prominent gland. 6. Petuniee.—The genera which I have separated from the Solanacee to form this tribe, approach the Salpiglossidee most closely m habit and in the general structure of their flowers and seeds, and moreover partake of their peculiar feature, the great dilatation of their stigma: the broadly expanded lips of this or- gan appear however more or less soldered into a tongue-shaped process, as in Salpiglossis, which singularly embraces the con- nate anthers in Nerembergia*. They differ notwithstanding from the Salpiglossidee in the pe- culiar complex estivation of their corolla: that of Nerembergia, being figured in plate 18 A. fig.2 of the ‘Illustration of South Amer. Plants, will require no further explanation: the figure of that of Petunia was omitted in plate 23 of that work, and its description was mostobscurely given in ‘Lond. Journ. Bot.’ v. p. 18 (in a note), owing to several omissions and transposals of words in the hurry of the last moment of the monthly publication of that journal. In order to remedy this omission, a delineation of the zestivation + of Petunia violacea is now given in the margin; fig. 1 being the corolla seen in front ; fig. 2, the same viewed sideways ; fig. 3, a transverse section made across the line aa; fig. 4, ditto ditto across b b. * See [I]. South Amer. Plants, pl. 18. A. fig. 4, B. fig. 5, and pl. 20. fig. 3. + It may be thus more simply defined: A‘stivatio replicativa, i. e. lobis omnibus subconduplicatis, superioris interioris marginibus revolutis, altero- rum plicaturis postice torsis, marginibus cum contiguis quincuncialiter late imbricatis, margine altero hince revoluto. 174 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 7. Hyoscyamee.—This forms a very natural tribe, remarkable for the very singular epigynous gland, hitherto I believe new in the history of vegetable physiology, the origin and nature of which it is desirable to ascertam. It cannot bear any analogy with the true disc, which is always hypogynous in the superior ovarium and epigynous in the inferior germen, and which is ge- nerally admitted by botanists to be little more than a confluent whorl of abortive stamens. In Cacabus it assumes the form of an enlargement of the base of the style, but that it exists here as a distinct organ is proved by the swelling seen within the matured fruit, in the summit of the cavity of the cells. In Thinogeton it is considerably larger, where it appears as a coriaceous thickening of the chartaceous covering that forms the upper portion of its dry berry. It is however most distinctly developed in Hyoscya- mus, even in the young ovarium, in the form of a fleshy external gland, which covers more than the superior moiety of the entire germen, and on making a longitudinal section it is seen di- stinctly adnate upon the true endocarpium: it forms therefore a very good discriminating character of this tribe. The cause of the opercular dehiscence of the fruit in Hyoscyamus is thus readily accounted for, because while the lower half of the pericarpial covering remains thin and membranaceous, the opercular portion becomes hard and coriaceous, from the indurescence of the glan- dular covering above-mentioned*. I have placed doubtfully in * Although in the above case it is easy to trace the cause of the opercular dehiscence of the fruit, the same is not so readily accounted for in other cases ; in Anagallis for example. In this last-mentioned instance, a distinct zonal line may be seen in the thin pericarpial covering before the ripening of the fruit, and it is along this that the membranaceous capsule afterwards bursts, by acleancircumscissure. This zonal line however bears no relation to the longitudinal true nervures, which may be distinctly traced in the pericarpial covering, and which, extending from the style to the base, may be referred to the midribs and marginal junctions of the original carpellary leaves: but what is the nature of the line which traverses these nervures at right angles across all the carpellary leaves? This is difficult to be accounted for, unless we imagine it to arise from a cause somewhat analogous to the case of Hyo- scyamus, only that instead of the line being the marginal limit of an epigy- nous gland, it may be the edge of an original elementary hypogynous disc, which by its subsequent growth and attenuation becomes hardly distin- guishable from the rest of the pericarpium. On examining this pericarpial covering, about the period of the fall of the corolla, this zonal line is seen more transparent than the rest of its substance, and not opake, as is ob- servable in the regular longitudinal nervures which may then be readily traced ; at this period however, and even in the younger state of the ova- rium, before this zonal line becomes distinguishable, the lower half of the pericarpial membrane is decidedly of a more greenish hue than the upper moiety. This appears to me the only theory on which we cau account for the dehiscence of the capsule in Anagallis, but in suggesting it, I confess that I could not discern the fact of the original existence and ultimate at- tenuation of such a disc as I have imagined. Although, generally speaking, Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanaceze. 175 this tribe, Scopolia, Physoclena, Thinogeton and Cacabus, genera which offer a striking affinity to one another in their most essen- tial characters, and there can be little doubt that they all form a portion of one very distinct group. These characters coincide for the most part with those of Hyoscyamus, and the only con- sideration wanting to complete their affinity is the estivation of their corolla. The funnel-shaped and almost entire border of the corolla in those genera would almost necessarily imply the regular plicature of its campanular portion, but it is probable that at the same time the lobes in estivation may be somewhat imbricate, as is distinctly observable in Mierembergia and Petu- nia. It is impossible to determine this question from dried spe- cimens, and it can only be ascertained from the examination of ving plants. Should the estivation be found, on the contrary, to be entirely induplicato-valvate, these four genera would not belong to Atropacee, but must be referred to Solanacee, where they would naturally find their place as a capsular tribe preceding the Jaborosee. 8. Atropee.—This very distinct group is distinguishable from the other tribes by its baccate fruit, and its ovary devoid of a fleshy epigynous gland. The first four genera possess a perennial root, with numerous deciduous herbaceous stems, large showy flowers, and a somewhat shrubby habit, with dense foliage and large leaves. Lycium, on the contrary, is a straggling shrub with woody stems, and frequently with spinous branches: its flowers are small. These differences are only generic, and do not offer sufficient reasons for separating the latter genus as a tribe distinct from the others. no apparent hypogynous disc is to be seen among the Primulacea, it is oc- casionally discernible, but I believe only in those genera where the capsule bursts into valves by the longitudinal carpellary nervures, as in Lysimachia, of which genus Nees v. Esenb. in his ‘ Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.’ says distinctly, “ Germen liberum basi disco annuliformi cinctum.” This view of the case, though quite hypothetical, is rendered still more probable by the facts ob- servable in the capsule of Plantago. which offers a membranaceous pyxi- dium very similar to that of Anagallis. At an early period the future trans- verse line of dehiscence is discernible in the ovarium, as in Anagallis, but it is then more approximate to the base, proving that the growth of its lower portion is afterwards more considerable than the upper part; as it advances towards maturity the zonal line becomes more marked, the upper portion of the pericarpial covering being of a deeper green hue and more opake, while the lower moiety is distinctly hyaline and transparent, and of more slender texture; on becoming ripe, the greater indurescence of the upper half, by desiccation, is still more evident, facts whic hlead to the only reason- able conclusion, that the upper portion of the ovarium is covered by a very thin epigynous glandular covering, as in Hyoscyamus, but too thin to be readily detected in parts of such very slender texture: that it does exist, is however proved by the circumstance of that part of the pericarpial covering being always less pervious to light, when viewed under the microscope, than the lower moiety. 176 Mr.J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 9. Solandree.—These form a very natural group, being all suffruticose, mostly subscandent plants, with large leaves and generally showy flowers. I have been enabled to obtain very satisfactory elements of the little-known genera Juanulloa and Marckea, besides those of two new genera. They bear a some- what similar position among the Atropacee that the Metterni- chiee hold among the Solanacea, and the analogy in the struc- ture of the seeds of Marckea and Metternichia is sufficiently re- markable. 10. Brunsfelsiee.—-This group, consisting of some of the plants placed by Mr. Bentham in his Salpiylossidee, is distinguishable from that tribe as above limited by the absence of the remark- able dilatation of the stigma : it will comprise the genera Bruns- felsia, Franciscea and Heteranthia: the latter much resembles Browallia in its habit, but it accords with the two former genera in the structure of its anthers, which are unilocular, and curved in the shape of a horseshoe round a fleshy globular connective, that in great part enters into and nearly fills the cavity of the cell, as in the Verbascea. I have here considered Franciscea as distinct from Brunsfelsia, which Mr. Bentham (in DeCand. Prodr. x. p. 198) combined together under one genus. In Brunsfelsia however the corolla is always of a yellowish colour, the tube is considerably longer and narrower in proportion, and the fruit consists of a large fleshy drupe inclosing a putamen which is quite indehiscent. In Franciscea the flowers are always of a purplish or violet colour, with a much shorter tube and an oblique rotate border: the fruit is generally capsular, and rarely somewhat baccate ; but when this occurs, I have noticed in the dried specimens, that as the fleshy sarcocarp covering the puta- men dries into the form of a coriaceous integument, both split into four divisions at the apex, in a valvular form, as in the cap- sular species. In Brunsfelsia the style is very long and slender, quite erect at the apex, and terminated by a sinall clavate stigma which is bilobed, its equal concave lobes being filled with a ball of grumous matter. In Franciscea the style is considerably en- larged and incurved at its summit, which is terminated by a much lar ger bilobed gaping stigma, the lower lobe bemg some- what smaller, and it exhibits in its sinus a globe of viscous mat- ter, seen only i in the living state. In Heteranthia the style is far exserted, and is terminated at its slender and somewhat in- curved apex by an almost obsolete fistulose stigma. The spe- cies of Brunsfelsia attain the size of large trees, 20 feet in height, while on the contrary those of Franciscea do not exceed the size of bushes, which are seldom more than 3 or 4 feet high. Hete- ranthia, on the other hand, is a small repent perennial plant, with short ascending branches, terminated by a racemose inflo- rescence. Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacese. 177 Ig 1 Having now reviewed in succession the different genera com- posing the Salpiglossidee of Bentham, with the exception of Schwenkia, it is necessary to offer a few words upon that genus, the true affinity of which for many years puzzled the sagacity of botanists. Linnzus had the penetration first to point out its affinity with the Solanee, an opinion which has been since quite disre- garded. It was afterwards considered as belonging to Primu- lacez, on account of the insertion of its stamens opposite to the lobes of the corolla. By Nees v. Esenbeck and Martius it was subsequently referred to Scrophulariacee (Nov. Act. xi. p. 47) ; but a note was added by Martius pointing out the greater proba- bility of its affinity to dcanthacee, because of the fissure of the apex of the dissepiment, a character which I have not observed in the genus. This indication has not been adopted by others, certainly not by Nees, who in his monograph on this last-men- tioned family (DeCand. Prodr. vol. xi.) does not allude in any way to Schwenkia in relation to it. Mr. Bentham was the first to explain the apparent anomaly of the position of the stamens in regard to the lobes of the corolla, and to demonstrate that the intermediate glands seen in most of the species constituted the true normal lobes of the border, and that the stamens were con- sequently alternate, and not opposite to its lobes. It was there- fore placed by that able botanist next Browallia, a position that appears to me hardly satisfactory, on account of the valvate zsti- vation of the lobes of its corolla, and because its anthers consist of two distinct cells fixed on the apex of a dilated membranaceous filament. For these reasons, 1 would suggest its nearer affinity to Fabiana, with which it possesses many characters in common: the cristate projection of the placentz from the middle of the dis- sepiment, and the insertion of the ovules in distinct linear series as described by Martius (/oc. cit.), quite correspond with the figure I have given of the placentation of Fabiana (Ill. S. Am. Pl. tab. 17). Schwenkia however is a genus that requires more careful examination. Having thus indicated those genera which I propose to sepa- rate from the Solanaceae, it is desirable to exhibit the arrange- ment of the remainder that will hence constitute that family. There is a considerable alteration in the view now offered, from that given on a former occasion, as since that time most of the genera have been more attentively examined, and their characters more accurately ascertained. I intend therefore in the sequel to present a description of the outlines, all now completed, of such of the genera as have not yet been delineated, enumerating at the same time the several species composing them (with the excep- tion of those of Solanum, Capsicum, Physalis and a few others), Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. in. 12 178 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacez. to which will be subjoined a review of the several new genera that have presented themselves in the course of this inquiry. To these details will be added the description of such of the genera of the Atropacee as have not yet been described by me, and the whole will offer a large accumulation of novel facts, that probably may serve to facilitate the labours of the able botanist now en- gaged in a monograph of this large family, which has hitherto been so little studied. In these investigations I have been carried far beyond the line originally intended, having been tempted to proceed by the abundant materials that have presented themselves to my notice, principally derived from the rich herbarium of Sir Wm. Hooker, to whose kind liberality I am mainly indebted for the opportu- nity of bringing to light so large an accumulation of new facts. The following synopsis will be sufficient to exhibit the proposed arrangement without farther explanations. SoLANACER. Tribus 1. Merreryicniz# (char. Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 148). Fructus capsularis, embryo RELESSSTECUUS caeteios se Bae ete ciie tee ae 1. Metternichia. 2. Sessea. Tribus 2. Cestrine# (char. loc. cit.). Id. id... 3. Cestrum. Tribus 3. Fapiane# (char. loc. cit.). Fructus capsularis, embryo paullulo incurvatus, fere PEBRUB MT Me Ek eit 4 Fabiana. 5. Vestia. 6. Schwenkia ? Trisus 4. JasoroseEx. Corolla tubo elongato siccatione nigrescens: fructus baccatus 2- locularis, embryo teres, fere annularis.... 7. Jaborosa. 8. Dorystigma. 9. Himeranthus. 10. Trechonetes. 11. Salpichroma. 12. Nectouzia. ‘ribus 5. Iocnromes. Corolla tubo elongato, limbo 5-fido plus duplo longiore : antherz longitudinaliter dehiscentes: calyx fructife- rus vix auctus baccam 2-locularem sufful- ciens vel arcte cingens: embryo teres, fere anMulanis ys 65% gt is saie ie aso WEE a Mcleicemee AO ane 14. Cleochroma. 15. Lycioplesium. 16. Pecilochroma. 17. Hebecladus. 18. Dunalia. 19. Acnistus. 20. Phrodus. Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 179 Tribus 6. Paysatex. Corolla tubo brevi, limbo campanulato 5-angulato vel 5-partito: an- theree longitudinaliter dehiscentes: calyx fructiferus valde auctus et vesicarius : fruc- tus baccatus, embryo teres, fere annularis.. 21. Physalis. 22. Larnaz. 23. Margaranthus. 24. Withania. 25. Hypnoticum. Tribus 7. Wiruerincex. Corolla tubo brevi, limbo 5-fido vix excedente: anthere longitu- dinaliter dehiscentes : calyx fructiferus vix auctus, baccam 2-locularem suffulciens, vel eam arcte vestiens ; embryo teres, spiraliter curvatus...... erie ee Pee anette Pe Meee 26. Witheringia. 27. Capsicum. 28. Brachistus. 29. Saracha. 30. Discopodium. 31. Puneera. 32. Aureliana. 33. Sichlera, Tribus 8. Sorane#. Anthere apice 2-porose, vel in tubum connate, intus dehiscentes : fructus baccatus, 2- raro pluri-lucularis : em- bryo teres, spiraliter arcuatus .......... 34. Solanum. 35. Cyphomandra. 36. Triguera. 37. Lycopersicum. VERBASCER.—The suggestions of our learned countryman offered in his ‘ Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl.,’ which I have cited in a former page (in a note, ante, p. 162), were evidently intended, in the state of our knowledge at that time, to apply principally to the Verbascee, which by Jussieu, Linneeus, and other emi- nent botanists had been classed among the Solanee. Bart- ling afterwards was the first to arrange the Verbascee as a di- stinct tribe among the Scrophulariacee, and Nees v. Esenbeck, acting upon the suggestion of Mr. Brown, proposed the Ver- bascine as a distinct family, intermediate between Solanee and Scrophularine (Trans. Linn. Soc. xvu. p. 78). The principal reasons that have induced all subsequent botanists to adopt the suggestion of Bartling, have been the imbricate estivation of the corolla, and the frequent suppression of some of the stamens, which have been considered paramount to the many other not less important considerations that tended to show the near ap- proximation of the Verbascee to the Solanee; but these objec- tions, fatal as they were to the admission of this tribe into the latter family, do not apply to their connexion with the Atropacea, 12* 180 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacer. with which group they exhibit beyond all doubt a very close alliance. This is manifest in their general habit, their alternate leaves with glutinous pubescence, their fetid smell, their power- fully narcotic and other medicinal qualities, which are so charac- teristic of the Solanaceae and Atropacee : to these may be added the particular structure of their stamens, which have their an- thers of a somewhat lunar form, and quite unilocular, curved round a large clavate termination of the filament, with an almost globular expansion of their connective, within the cell, that serves as the polliniferous receptacle, a character pointed out by Nees as being foreign to the Solanee and rare among the Scrophula- ring, and as claiming for them a distinct station in the system. On the other hand it should be borne in mind, that this peculiar character exists also in the genus Scrophularia itself, the flowers of which exhibit often declinate anthers and barbate filaments, together with a fifth stele stamen, a feature rare m the Scro- phulariacee, and one that tends to show a very close connexion of this genus with the Verbascee, with which tribe it had been before associated by all preceding botanists, until Mr. Bentham, in his admirable monograph of the order, has placed it among the Chelonee (DeCand. Prodr. x. 299). In most of the genera of this last-mentioned tribe, the anthers are formed constantly, I believe, of two distinct and divaricate cells, affixed at their apex on the slender summit of the filament, and quite wanting of the fleshy connective so manifest in Scrophularia and the Verbascee. Whatever may be determined in regard to the proper place of the Verbascee in the system, it is manifest that it is not by the number of the stamens that we can fix the limit between the Atro- pacee and Scrophulariacee: thus it is impossible to separate Celsia from Verbascum, and it would be equally as admissible to include Celsia with its didynamous stamens, or Janthe with its single pair, in Atropacee, as it is to place Verbascum, with its regular pentandrous flowers, in Scrophulariacee: such discre- pancies cannot fail to occur in many solitary points of osculation between the genera of different tribes, in all our artificial modes of the classification of plants. We have also other instances not less strikingly contrary to the ordinary rule in the Xuaresia bi- flora of the ‘ Flora Peruviana,’ which has a regular 5-partite co- rolla and 5 alternate equal stamens: this plant Mr. Bentham unhesitatingly considers to be a true species of Capraria, a genus decidedly. Scrophulariaceous ; and in like manner the Bacopa of Aublet with its 5 equal stamens offers another exception, but here the plant has opposite leaves, and possesses so precisely the habit and general features of Herpestes, that its position must without doubt be fixed contiguous to that genus. The same rule will apply to another anomalous case instanced by Mr. Bentham Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. 181 in the genus Campylanthus, the seeds of which have a perisphe- rically-curved embryo, a character that by itself would place it in Atropacee ; but that distinguished botanist fixes its position among Scrophulariacee, on account of the form of its corolla and of its anthers, notwithstanding, as he observes, that it bears little analogy with any other genus contiguous to it. The principal reason however that appears to me to give the Verbascee the pre- ference of a place among the Scrophulariacee is the truly axillary origin of the floral peduncles, a character that in all such doubt- ful cases may be employed as a decisive line of demarcation be- tween that order and the Atropacee. The position of the Ver- bascee should then appear at the head of the Scrophulariacee, occupying the place of a suborder in the manner of the Salpi- glossidee of Bentham (DeCand. Prodr. x. p. 190), where they would serve as a connecting link of the closest affinity between these two families. Rerz1a.—This anomalous genus* has never yet found a cer- tain or satisfactory place in the system, and its position must remain problematical until the structure of its fruit and seed be more accurately investigated. By many botanists it has been placed in Convolvulacee ; others have indicated its relation to Apocynee ; some have again referred it to Polemoniacee, with which it certainly offers no affinity ; and Bartling proposed for it a new natural order, under the name of Retziacee, but this stands upon too insufficient grounds. Endlicher places Retziacee as a doubtful order after Solanacee, and Dr. Lindley arranges the genus Retzia among Solanacee, after Sessea. In the form of its calyx and of its corolla, the number and position of its stamens, its bilocular ovarium with placentze attached to the dissepiment, the structure of its capsule and of its seeds as far as they are known, offer characters strictly conformable with those of Sola- nacee ; but it would now rather fall among the Atropacee, on ac- count of the estivation of its corolla, which is said by Endlicher and Lindley to be imbricate, and not valvate: the form of its embryo, which on the authority of Brown (Prodr. 482) is terete and straight, necessarily, if it were admitted into this family, would point to its situation as a tribe near the Solandree. Thus far every feature appears in conformity with such an ar- * Rerzra, Thunb. Calyx tubular, 5-fid, lobes lanceolate, somewhat unequal. Corolla tubular, elongated, straight, tube in no degree plicated, border of 5 short equal lobes imbricated in estivation. Stamens 5, equal, nearly ses- sile in mouth of tube, alternate with its lobes, filaments extremely short. Anthers oblong, cordate, 2-celled, cells parallel, bursting longitudinally in front. Ovarium oblong, seated on a fleshy gland, 2-locular, ovules upon placente adnate to the dissepiment? Style longer than corolla, filiform. Stigma very short, bifid, with divaricate linear segments. Capsule bisul- cate, bilocular, bivalved. Seeds several. Embryo straight, terete. 182 Mr. J. Miers on several genera hitherto placed in Solanacee. rangement, but one objection presents itself which renders this conclusion somewhat unsatisfactory, and that is the peculiar habit of the only well-recognized species, Retzia spicata, which is dif- ferent from that of any Solanaceous or Atropaceous plant. Here the leaves are verticillate in fours, and the flowers are solitary and sessile in each axil, being supported by two bracts similar in size and shape to the lobes of the calyx. The genus Solenostigma of Klotzsch, founded upon one of Zeyher’s African plants, and supposed to be identical with Retzia, was placed by that botanist m Séilbacee ; but the name would imply that the stigma is there hollow and tubular, while in Retzia it consists of two small linear divaricate segments ; hence it is probable that Klotzsch’s plant is very different from that of Thunberg. I may here observe how- ever, that this fact does not of itself invalidate their mutual affi- nity, for in the vast genus So/anum we meet with different spe- cies, some with a hollow tubular stigma, and others with bifid hnear segments, exactly similar to the stigma of Retzia. The Polemonium campanuloides and P. roelloides of Thunberg have been referred to Retzia by Sprengel, G. Don and Dr. Walpers ; these plants have both alternate leaves, and if really species of that genus, they would tend to remove the doubts above expressed in regard to the place of Refzia in this natural order. Willdenow states (Syst. 1. 887) that the two species last alluded to, cannot belong to Polemonium, which has a trifid stigma; and he adds, that P. campanuloides has a bifid stigma as in Retzia. The Con- volvulus cenotheroides (Linn. fil.) is also said to be another species of this genus. The only facts wanting to confirm its place in the system are the position of its ovules and the structure of its seeds. Dr. Lindley, who has examined its ovarium, has observed that its ovules are very few, two (or four?) in each cell, articulated with and suspended from the dissepiment by a large thickened funiculus, a character not at all conformable with the Atropacee or Solanacee, and one that would seem to remove this genus nearer to the Bruniacee, with which Retzia will be found to pos- sess many similar characters. For the present therefore we must hesitate in attaching Retzia to the Atropacee. The genus Lonchostoma of Wikstrom, placed by most botanists in Retziacee, offers, I find, many characters in common with Bru- niace@ : its sepals are united at the base by a membranaceous tube which closely invests the ovarium, if not almost adnate with it ; they are surrounded by bracts of equal size: it resembles Graven- horstia in having its petals combined into a funnel-shaped tube with a 5-partite border, the lobes of which are carinate and con- volutely imbricate in estivation ; the anthers, cordate at base, are nearly sessile in the mouth ; thie style is divided halfway down and terminated by clavate stigmata; the ovartum, 2-celled, appears eo Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 183 under the microscope to be composed of two distinct, though connate carpels ; the ovules are few, horizontally attached, or somewhat pendulous from narrow axile placente attached to the twofold dissepiment. These are characters that seem to corre- spond in great measure with the Bruniacee, with which the habit of Lonchostoma does not ill accord. These are merely hasty indications, as it would be foreign to the object of the present investigation to pursue such inquiries farther. XIX.— On the Anatomy of Eolis, a genus of Mollusks of the order Nudibranchiata. By AtBany Hancock and Dennis Em- BLETON, M.D. [Continued from vol. i. 2nd Series, p. 105.) [With two Plates.] Nervous System. Tuts is made up of central masses or ganglia united by com- missures, and of nerves. The ganglia are five or six pairs, four of which are symmetrically arranged with regard to the median line, and together with their commissures surround the com- mencement of the cesophagus lying upon the upper and poste- rior surface of the buccal mass, vol. xv. Pl. V. fig. 166 and Pl. V. fig. 1 of present paper. Two pairs are supra-cesophageal and two infra-cesophageal. The former exceed the latter many times in size. The masses are of a pale yellowish flesh-colour, and appear to be filled with globular vesicles of various sizes. First, of the supra-cesophageal or cerebral ganglia, the median pair, Pl. V. fig. 1 aa, largest of all, are irregularly ovate, flattened above and below, and somewhat constricted about the middle as if composed of two parts; their anterior ends, which are the larger and truncated, are united across the median line by a short broad commissure. The second or lateral pair, 6, he rather behind the first and on the sides of the cesophagus; they are irregularly spheroidal, smaller than the first and flattened like them, and intimately connected to their external posterior mar- gin. The two pairs of intra-cesophageal ganglia are of very un- equal size: the first or buccal, or larger pair, cc, are elliptical, their long diameters placed transversely one on each side of the median line, across which a short thick commissure unites their contiguous ends ; from the under surface of these, at their outer and anterior part, spring two short pedicles, supporting the second pair of ganglia, dd, the gastro-cesophageal, very small, not one-fourth the size of the last, but of the same form. In 184 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. addition to these, there is a pair of ganglia, ee, at the base of the dorsal tentacles, which we call olfactory ; and we have seen what we take to be other ganglia, but of these we shall speak further on. The nervous centres intercommunicate by the followimg com- missures. A short broad one, f, unites the first pair of supra- esophageal, and a similar though smaller, g, the first pair of infra-cesophageal ; these have been already noticed; then the lateral supra-cesophageal are united to the first or anterior or cerebral by a broad flat band, h, so short that the ganglia appear to be continuous with each other. Next we have three nervous bands or collars, concentrically arranged, inclosing the cesopha- gus, and serving to complete the connexions of the supra-ceso- phageal ganglia with each other, and to bring them into asso- ciation with the infra-cesophageal. First, the mnermost or thickest collar, 2, les close to the cesophageal wall, and is com- posed of four or five distinct nervous filaments running parallel to each other, and connecting together the posterior borders of the two lateral supra-cesophageal masses. Second, a slender, delicate collar, 7, lies next outside, much wider than the former, aud uniting the posterior and outer parts of the first pair of supra-cesophageal ganglia, it comes out from the under surface of these bodies and runs wnder the second or lateral ganglia. The existence of this collar or commissure between the posterior parts of the median cerebral ganglia, whilst their anterior parts are united by the anterior median commissure, seems to confirm the impression we received at first sight, that the cerebral ganglia are each of them double centres. It will be observed that the two last-described cesophageal collars are not attached in any way to the infra-cesophageal gangha. The third or outermost collar, k, however establishes a communication between the first or median supra-cesophageal and the first infra-ceesophageal gan- glia. This is a strong band, being little inferior in size to the first, of uniform texture, and lying just outside of the second col- lar, and in contact with it, it is the widest of the three. In front it is attached to the under part of the outer border of the first cerebral ganglia, considerably in advance of the coming off of the second collar ; from this part it is traced backwards under the lateral supra-cesophageal into the external end of the buccal ganglia. The nerves vary a good deal in size, and we have been able to trace thirty-three pairs; of these, twenty-one come off from the supra-cesophageal ganglia, six from the infra-cesophageal, and five from the commissures. There is also a large pair which comes out from the buecal mass from an obscure ganglion im- bedded in the muscular tissue, and a small nerve, apparently single, that separates from the middle collar of the cesophagus, Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 185 and seems to present a small ganglionic enlargement. We have numbered them in the order in which they occur, commencing at the median line in front. The first and second pairs, very minute, come out of the un- der surface of the anterior commissure of the first or cerebral ganglia, and pass to the skin on each side of the median line before and behind the dorsal tentacles. The third pair, large nerves, come out of the first cerebral ganglia at their upper surface, and near the mjddle of their an- terior border ; they pass forwards, upwards and downwards to the roots of the dorsal tentacles, within which each suddenly swells out into a remarkable ganglion, e, of an irregularly oval form, which, at its upper end, divides into three or four processes, each giving off nerves to be distributed for the supply of the whole tentacle. This pair we look upon as the special nerves of smell- ing, for reasons which will be adduced hereafter, and as endowing the tentacle with the power of ordinary sensation likewise. If this view be correct, then the small branches passing from the ganglion to the sentient surface of the tentacles are properly to be designated olfactory nerves, and the thick pedicle supporting the ganglion and connecting it with the cerebral ganglion, olfac- tory tractus. The fourth and fifth pairs, considerably less than the third, arise also from the anterior part but under surface of the same ganglia, close together, and just outside of the third. The fourth runs forward to the outer lip before giving off any branches ; after that it divides and subdivides minutely, and goes to supply the outer lip above and below. The fifth runs forward and is distributed to the skin of the head and between the dorsal ten- tacles, but does not give off such numerous branches as the pre- ceding nerve. The sixth, one of the largest nerves in the body, comes out of the external anterior angle of the ganglion, and after a short course outwards and forwards bifurcates. The two branches are about equal in size: one passes into the oral tentacle, divides into two branches which subdivide and supply the tentacle ; the other runs forward, and then inclines inwards towards the median line, and subdivides into many twigs which are distributed upon the roof of the channel of the mouth. The seventh and eighth are minute nerves which issue from the outer margin of the ganglion just behind the sixth. They take a straight course outward-and pass into the skin of the side of the head. The ninth is a large pair, coming out of the same ganglion just behind the preceding, and running- outwards and forwards gives off a twig which goes to the muscles attaching the buccal 186 Messrs. Hancock wad Embleton on the Anatomy of Holis. mass to the skin. It then passes forwards and inwards, and is lost upon the sides of the channel of the mouth. The tenth and eleventh pairs are small, come off from the same ganglion still further back and just im front of the eye, and pass directly outwards into the skin. The twelfth and thirteenth arise from the junction of the an- terior and lateral cerebral ganglia, and passing outwards and downwards first, then incline downwards and backwards and run half-way down the body, one above the other, in the skin between the border of the foot, and the rows of branchial papille. The fourteenth and fifteenth, very minute pairs, emerge from the line of union of the anterior and the lateral ganglia, and are then placed directly under the eye. The former of these nerves goes to the skin of the side of the head between the oral and the dorsal tentacles, the latter to the skin immediately be- hind the situation of the former. The sixteenth or optic nerves are stout but very short, and have the organ of vision at their extremity. They are inclined forwards and upwards from the line of union of the anterior and lateral ganglia. The seventeenth or auditory are mere rudiments of nerves, and are attached to the anterior ganglia quite close to the bases of the optic nerves, and immediately behind them. The auditory capsule and the eye will be described further on with the other organs of special sense. The eighteenth pair, one of the largest, issues from the outer borders of the lateral ganglia, rather in front of the middle, passes outward and bifurcates very soon after; each of these branches again bifurcates and is distributed by many twigs to the muscles and skin of the foot, both anteriorly and posteriorly (the pedial nerve). The nineteenth, also of considerable size, come out of the ex- ternal borders of the lateral ganglia, behind the middle, separated by a considerable interval from the eighteenth, and passing shghtly outwards take a backward course, and can be traced in the skin for a long way down the sides of the back, giving off chiefly externally numerous branches that supply the skin. This we presume is the respiratory nerve. The twentieth are seen to come forth from the posterior mar- gins of the anterior ganglia, and are of a size little inferior to the last. They can be traced im the skin of the -back between the last-described nerve and the dorsal median line nearly as far as the tail, giving off twigs from their outer sides like the nineteenth pair to the skin. The twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third pairs are all small nerves coming out successively from the posterior borders SY wiessrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. 187 of the anterior ganglia between the last-described nerve and the median line. They all pass a good way backwards to the dorsal skin on each side of the median line. The origin, course and distribution of the six pairs of infra- cesophageal nerves are as follows :— The first pair come from the upper surface of the roots of the pedicles that support the gastro-cesophageal, and close to the buccal ganglia. The nerves are rather small, run forwards and apply themselves to the cesophagus, along which they are con- ducted to the stomach, the greater part of which organ they sup- ply with branches. The second, third and fourth arise from the margins of the gastro-cesophageal ganglia, are very small nerves, but can be traced to the cesophagus and neighbouring parts of the stomach. The fifth pair come out of the external ends of the buccal ganglia in conjunction with the third or outermost cesophageal collar, to which they are slightly inferior in size. The nerves and the collar separate at once; the nerves passing backwards and outwards give off each a branch that bends forwards and outwards and becomes lost among the muscles of the buccal mass external to the ganglion. The trunk then inclines towards an opening between the muscular bundles of the back part of the buccal mass, and enters that opening lying in contact with another large nerve that is observed to issue from the same. It is difficult to follow the trunk far into the intermuscular aperture, but as far as we have been able to trace it, it appears to be destined for the buccal mass and tongue. The sixth pair is given off from the posterior margin of the buccal ganglia, and shortly after becomes lost among the mus- cular bundles of the back part of the buccal mass. Of the five pairs of nerves from the commissures, two have already been described, viz. the first and second supra-cesopha- geal ; the three that remain come off from the cesophageal collars in the following manner. The pair marked « come off from the outer margin of the first or innermost collar near the median line. They are very minute nerves, and we have not succeeded in tracking them to their destination. That marked # is the genital and probably the cardiac nerve, and is an offset from the middle or slender collar, which it nearly equals in size, at a short distance behind its attachment to the anterior cerebral ganglion. It runs from this origin backwards and outwards to the generative organs, guided partly by the an- terior aorta, gains the fissure where the confluence of the ducts from the different parts of the generative apparatus exists, and 183 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. is then subdivided among the testis, the oviduct, the mucus- gland, &c. It seems more than probable that the penis receives a twig from this nerve, and that the spermatheca and ovarium are also supplied from it, though we have not traced branches so far. If any branches pass from this nerve to the heart, which we are inclined to believe is the case, they probably run along the anterior aorta. We think it only right to remark, that not having traced this nerve with the same precision as the rest, we do not feel our- selves competent to speak so decidedly of its distribution as we could wish. The nerve y arises from the third or hindermost collar at the side, passes backwards to the aperture previously noticed as ex- isting in the buccal mass, and therein is applied to the surface of the nerve that issues from the opening, and further we have been unable to follow it. In addition to these we have the nerve marked 6, which ap- pears to be single; it comes off from the inner margin of the pos- terior segment of the middle slender collar near the median line, and has been traced to the under surface of the anterior portion of the stomach. There appears to be a small fusiform swelling on this nerve. The last nerve to be mentioned, and which is designated ¢, is somewhat inferior in size to the fifth infra-cesophageal, and as before stated emerges from the aperture among the muscular bundles of the posterior part of the buccal mass. On attempting to follow this nerve more deeply, we find it to end im what seems to be a ganglionic swelling & from which nervous branches ap- parently radiate throughout the muscular tissue of the buccal mass. If this nerve be traced in the opposite direction from the intermuscular aperture, it is found to pass forwards, inclining at first mwards, and as it approaches the outermost collar receives obliquely from it, near the union of the collar with the buccal ganglion, a branch of communication, 9; it next runs under that collar, and then under the middle one; after this still passing forwards and approaching the posterior margin of the lateral supra-cesophageal ganglia, it turns outwards, hookimg round over the two outer collars, but having no connexion with either at this part, and reaching the skin at the side of the buccal mass, it bifurcates, one branch passing forwards, the other back- wards ; they both send off numerous twigs which have been fol- lowed to the ramifications of the gastric system at the bases of the papillee. In E. olwwacea, E. coronata, P\. V1. fig. 1, and #. Drummond, Pl. V. fig. 2, the central masses.and the nerves emanating from Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. 189 them, and the commissures, excepting the modifications to be presently mentioned, are pretty much the same, as far as we have been able to examine them, as they exist in HL. papillosa. In £. coronata the olfactory tractus are much shorter, and their ganglia more globular, and of much greater relative size than in EL. papillosa, being indeed more than one-third the size of the lateral supra-cesophageal ganglia themselves. There is besides one principal nervous stem from the ganglion which runs up the central axis of the tentacle. In £. Drummondi the relative size of these ganglia is still greater and their form elliptical. The existence of these ganglia we believe to be constant in all the species ; we observed them in Ei. pellucida, E.-Farrani, E. alba, E. gracilis, EL. picta, B. pune- tata, &e. The three nervous collars of the cesophagus can be observed easily in H. Drummondi, in which there appears to exist at the coming off of the genital nerve from the middle or slender collar a small ganglionic swelling @. A similar swelling occurs also in E. coronata. When viewed attentively with the naked eye, the cerebral ganglia, and particularly the first or median pair, present a num- ber of large globular vesicles inclosed within a transparent mem- branous envelope. When compressed and somewhat magnified, all the ganglia seem to be made up of masses of vesicles, as the view of a buccal ganglion, Pl. VI. fig. 2, will show. Under a higher power these vesicles or cells are found of very variable size, externally smooth, iternally granular, and having one or more large distinct nuclei and nucleoli; some have only one large nucleus and a distinct nucleolus ; the interior is filled with smaller cells of different dimensions and also nucleated ; the smallest of all however are minute, clear, bright cells, probably nuclei or rather nucleoli of larger vesicles. Many of these last are found also lying in the intervals of the large cells intermixed with the tenacious semifluid matrix that imbeds the nervous vesicles, and in which no distinct forms can be discerned. On tearing up one of the cerebral ganglia and examining the contents of the mem- branous envelope in the compressor, under a high power (one- eighth object-glass), numbers of the cells of all sizes are seen under the form of pear-shaped, largely nucleated vesicles, Pl. VI. fig. 4, having a long pedicle attached ; the nucleus, which is very large, has an evident and well-marked nucleolus, and the pedicle or stalk of the cell is in the interior very finely granular. Groups of these pedicled ovoid vesicles may be observed, such as that at Pl. VI. fig. 3, their pedicles all lying in the same direction, and tending either to unite or to run on parallel to each other, put- ting us strongly in mind of some of the simpler forms of glan- 190 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. dular apparatus. We cannot confidently say that we have traced groups of these pedicles into the nerves that issue from the gan- glia, but we have seen what inclines us very strongly to the idea, that such is in reality the relation of these two parts of the ner- vous system. At Pl. VI. fig. 2, where a nerve J is shown coming off from a buccal ganglion a, parallel striz are observed distinctly passing towards the nerve from the interior of the ganglion. Again, when the connexions of the nerves with the cerebral ganglia are examined, parallel strize can be seen continued from the commencement of the nerve for some distance into the gan- glion, becoming gradually more and more obscured by the vesi- cles of the ganglia and then lost altogether ; but from the tough- ness of the enveloping membrane—the body of the Nudibranch having lain for some time in spirit and water—and the extraor- dinary delicacy of the contained parts, we have not been able to lay bare, and leave in situ, in one and the same specimen, the real connexion which we believe to exist between the nerves and the vesicular element of the central ganglia. But we hope that further observation will enable us to show that the pedicles of the nerve-corpuscles in Kolis are continuous with the nerves ; and if this be so, then that it may be the means of illustrating more clearly the connexion that exists im the Vertebrata and in Man between the nerves and the white and the gray matter of the brain and the rest of the centres of the nervous system. It is highly probable, however, that all the cells of the ganglia pos- sess a pedicle or stalk in their perfect state, and that the appa- rent absence of a pedicle or pedicles in some cells or groups of cells may be owing either to the unfavourable aspect under which they are presented to the eye—they being so placed that the pe- dicle is either very much foreshortened or hidden altogether by the cell itself, or else to the pedicle having been broken off du- ring the manipulation of the specimen, or again to the magni- fying power in some cases not being sufficient to make them discernible, or lastly to their imperfect state of development. These cells or vesicles of the nervous ganglia of Holis, although they show only one cauda or prolonged pedicle, are doubtless analogous to those caudate vesicles or nerve-corpuscles which are characteristic of the gray matter of the cerebro-spinal and sym- pathetic ganglia of the higher animals. The nerves themselves appear to have none of the cells above noticed, but to consist of series of parallel granular lines or fibrille, which on tearing the nerve across often remain detached from each other, and which are all in their perfect state enveloped in a strong common sheath continuous with the membranous capsules of the ganglia. Where a nerve gives off branches, lines of granular matter, probably the fibrillz just mentioned, are Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 191 separated from the main stem and become inclosed in a sheath of their own, and this mode of division appears to be carried on to a very minute degree. We have not been able to detect the manner in which the nerves actually terminate ; certamly we have seen nothing to warrant the description and the figures of M. de Quatrefages relative to this particular. On taking a review of the nervous system of Kolis, we are at once struck with the high grade of development, and with the symmetrical arrangement that obtains in it; the heteroganghate character applicable to many gasteropodous mollusks being, so far as our researches have led us, inapplicable to this more elevated being. The nervous centres are closely concentrated around the cesophagus, and there exists a sufficient correspondence between them and the same organs in the Cephalopoda to enable us con- fidently to compare them ; indeed we have every reason to think that we recognise in them the homologues of the principal masses of the nervous centres of the Vertebrata. If we turn to Professor Owen’s memoir on the Pearly Nau- tilus, pl. 7. fig. 1, im which the nervous system is represented, we find that the supra-cesophageal mass or brain together with the attached optic lobes, taken in conjunction with the anterior cesophageal ring formed by the union of two ganglia, corre- sponds to the anterior supra-cesophageal ganglia of Holis with the slender or middle collar round the cesophagus, since they give off nerves-which go to supply analogous parts, viz. the eyes, tentacles, lips, &e. The posterior cesophageal ring of the Nau- tilus to a great extent represents in the same way the lateral supra-cesophageal ganglia of Holis, united with all the infra- cesophageal ganglia and the two large collars or commissures together. At fig. 3, same plate, Professor Owen gives a view of the ner- vous system of the Sepia officinalis; the homology is equally di- stinct as in the former case, only the parts are more concentrated ; still they serve to lead us on more easily to compare the gangha of Holis with the several divisions of the more highly-developed nervous centres of the Vertebrata. In Holis we see that certain nerves of relation—of special and common sensation, and their corresponding nerves of motion, voluntary or reflex—are in con- nexion only with the two pairs of supra-cesophageal ganglia. The olfactory and optic nerves, and numerous others to the lips, mouth, tentacles and side of head and back, are thus attached ; hence we infer that the anterior part of the supra-cesophageal ganglia may be in some measure compared, though not perhaps quite accurately, to the cerebrum and optic lobes of the Verte- brata ; at all events these are the only parts to which they corre- spond. The posterior parts of the median cerebral ganglia, and 192 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. the remaining ganglia together with their commissures and col- lars, are the representatives of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord of the higher animals. We do not discern in Holis anything at all analogous to the sympathetic system of the higher animals. In the nervous system again we are sorry to be compelled to be at issue with M. de Quatrefages, who states in his paper that “toutes les grandes masses nerveuses sont réunies au-dessus de Veesophage et d’elles seules émanent directement les nerfs qui se rendent dans toutes les parties du corps.” Subsequently how- ever he points out the presence of a single small ganglion below the esophagus, from which small nervous twigs are given off to the mouth and digestive tube. The incorrectness of these and other observations we hope to have rectified. Further, M. de Quatrefages makes out only one nervous cesophageal ring ; we have over and over again seen and verified the three repr esented in our plate. The nerves of vegetative life he derives from the same ganglia that give off the nerves of relation, and pots this out as an interesting fact. The rule with two or three excep- tions appears to be, that the two sets of nerves have two appro- priately distinct sets of ganglionic centres, viz. the infra-cesopha- geal for vegetative life, and the supra-cesophageal for the life of relation,.which is agreeable to analogy. With regard to the num- ber and arrangement of the nerves, we find M. de Quatrefages to be again in confusion. His number is very far short of the full complement, and he has traced scarcely any to their proper de- stination. We observe that he gives to the optic nerves a gan- glionic swelling which we have never seen, and omits the olfac- tory ganglion, which may be seen even during life in the more transparent species. We do not understand M. de Nordmann’s account of the ner- vous system. It is possible that in that section of the genus Eolis to which Tergipes belongs, the nervous system may differ from that of the other divisions, but we should be surprised to find it so different from that of those we have dissected, as it is represented in M. de Nordmann’s paper. The Senses. The organs of the senses appear to be as highly developed in Eolis as in any other of the Gasteropods. The sense of touch is spread over the whole surface of the body, including the foot, the tentacles, and the branchial papille, which last are so ex- tremely sensitive as to respond to the slightest undulations of the water around them. Many of the species indeed are so alive to such impressions, that it becomes a matter of difficulty to observe their habits, and even their natural form, since on the slightest Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Holis. 193 motion of the water they curl up their foot and fall to the bottom. The oral tentacles, which are kept in perpetual action, seem to possess the sense of touch in an exquisite degree ; so much so that we are led to conclude, that from this circumstance, and from their anterior position, they ought to be regarded as special ‘ organs of touch. Taste, if present, most probably resides in the lining mem- brane of the buccal cavity, particularly in the folds at the back of the tongue (Ist paper, Pl. I. fig.8 4) and the cheek-mass, e f, and perhaps also in the lamine at the commencement of the cesophagus. When describing the third pair of nerves, we stated that we considered the dorsal tentacles to which these nerves pass to be distributed, as the olfactory organs, and for this opinion we now proceed to adduce reasons which appear to be sufficient. That these tentacles are special and very important organs, a consideration of the internal anatomical arrangement of their nervous element and of the peculiarities of their external form, peculiarities susceptible of great variety, would seem to leave very little doubt in the unprejudiced mind. First of all a large nerve, Pl. V. fig.3, among the largest in the body, comes off from the front of the median cerebral gan- glion ; and secondly, this nerve, or more properly speaking, trac- tus, has superadded to it at the base of the tentacle a well- defined ganglionic swelling, 2, of a size exactly proportioned to the extent of complexity in the external form of the tentacle. Thus in E. papillosa, in which the tentacle is smooth and in its simplest form, the ganglion is considerably less than in E. coro- nata, P\. VI. fig. 6, and LE. Drummondi, n both of which the tentacle has a surface of a far more complicated kind, being ren- dered much more extensive by the addition of numerous broad, circular lamine ; the ganglion being in these two species, as be- fore noticed, upwards of one-third the size of the lateral supra- cesophageal ganglion itself, Pl. VI. fig. 1 e, and Pl. V. fig. 2e. If further evidence be required to illustrate the importance and special nature of these organs, we may go from the genus Kolis to the other members of the family Holidide, as for in- stance to EHumenis marmorata, in which we find the lamine so closely set as to conceal the whole shaft of the tentacle, and moreover there exists a sheath at the base of the teutacle ito which it can be retracted at the will of the animal. A sheath also exists in Doto, Pl. VI. fig. 7, into which the organ, though simple in form, is completely retractile. The same is found like- wise in Dendronotus arborescens, Pl. VI. figs. 8 & 9, in which the tentacle is remarkable for highly developed lamine ; and here the Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. ii. 13 194 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. sheath, which is long, and into which the tentacle is quite retrac- tile, is garnished around its extremity by a circle of arborescent filaments, by which the organ even, when extended, is to a great degree protected from injurious contact with surrounding objects. Again, as if the laminated disposition of the tentacle were not sufficient for the purpose of the Antiopa splendida, P|. VI. fig. 10, we have these organs, aa, standing out from the sides of a me- dian crest, b, which is elevated above the surrounding skin, and crowned by a series of pinnate lamin. That this median crest is really a part of the olfactory organ, an addition to its com- plexity, is proved by the attendant modification of the nervous element, which is as follows. There is directly in front of and in contact with the median cerebral a pair of small ganglia, ¢ e¢, each of which gives off two branches, one of which, d, goes to the tentacle, and the other, e, much thicker, goes to one half of the median crest. We could easily adduce other examples from the Doridide, if others were required, to show the importance and the spe- ciality of these organs in the Nudibranchiata, but those we have brought forward seem enough for this purpose. Another cir- cumstance bearing upon the special nature of these tentacles, and noticed by Joshua Alder, Esq., one of the authors of this paper, im a communication made to the British Association at the Cork meeting, is that the cilia on their surface vibrate in a direction contrary to that of those on the surface of the branchial papille. On these the cilia move constantly from the body towards the extremity of the papilla ; on those they act from the point of the tentacle towards the body ; thus, in the former case, the water which has served for respiration is drawn from the body and thrown off from the apices of the papillee, whilst in the latter the fluid which we may suppose to contain odorous particles or qualities is attracted to the end of the tentacle, and made to pass down over the entire surface, and then thus to act upon the sentient nerve within. Now it is a constant occurrence in the higher animals that the fluid to be tested by the olfactory organ is always brought to the nerve, and made to pass over the sensitive surface in the majo- rity of instances by means of the agency of inspiration. In fishes however in which the nasal cavity is shut off from the mouth and throat, another agency than that of respiration is required ; the olfactory plates however are freely supplied with cilia, and these probably act a part analogous to those of the laminated tentacles of Holis. But the dorsal tentacles are not only, according to our view, important and special organs, but they are, further, organs of smell. Their laminated structure is one evidence of this. The Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 195 organs pointed out by Professor Owen in his memoir on the Pearly Nautilus, which “consist of series of soft membranous lamine compactly arranged in a longitudinal direction, and situ- ated at the entry of the mouth, between the internal labial pro- cesses,” are similarly constructed, and also supplied with nervous filaments from a pair of ganglia that are connected with the an- terior cerebral or brain. In fishes the olfactory organ consists of delicate membranous lamine, arranged in a manner not widely different from the dis- position of those of Holis; they are disposed, as in the Doridide, in a pinnate manner, attached to a central stem: examples of this may be seen in the dace and in the burn trout, Pl. VL. fig. 12. In the higher Vertebrata the laminated form is evident wherever we look. It may be objected to this argument, that in the case of Holts the lamine are arranged on the exterior of the tentacle, and in the Vertebrata in the interior of a cavity ; but if we can conceive of the tentacle of a Dendronotus, or of a Doris coccinea, Pl. VI. fig. 11, retracted within a sheath, we have then a very good representation of the olfactory organ of the fish. Further, the ganglia of the tentacular nerves are in front of all the rest, and are attached by their tractus to the anterior part of the cerebral mass,—the anterior median ganglia, an arrange- ment which, together with the anterior superior position of the tentacles themselves, perfectly corresponds to that of the acknow- ledged olfactory apparatus in fishes and all other Vertebrata. Lastly, if these tentacles be olfactory organs, we should expect, in tracing downwards the animal scale, that they would disap- pear before the tactile organs, the oral tentacles. That such is the rule even in the Mollusca we have the authority of Professor Owen. From what we have brought forward on this subject respecting the anatomical details, the external configuration, and the homology of the dorsal tentacles of Holis, we feel justified in assigning to them the office of olfaction rather than in supposing them to be the seat of some new and hitherto undescribed and mysterious sense, or even of touch, as is generally believed. That they are not for touch seems to be indicated in some measure by their dorsal position, their direction upwards, and by their being in some instances defended from external mechanical injury by a fence of delicate processes, as in Dendronotus arborescens, BieV i» fie 8. The sense of vision is subserved by two minute organs some- what inferior in development to those of the higher Gasteropods. They are situated beneath the skin, and are visible to the naked — eye as two black dots immediately behind the dorsal tentacles ; they are each supported by what appears to be a short thickish 13* 196 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. pedicle, the optic nerve, Pl. V. figs. 1 & 2, no. 16, which comes off from the upper surface near the middle of the external border of the median cerebral ganglion, close to its connection with the lateral one. The nerve is directed forwards, outwards and up- wards, and varies somewhat in length in different species ; it is covered by a very delicate transparent sheath: the eye itself, Pl. V. fig. 3, has a wide external envelope—a delicate transpa- rent capsule, a, continuous with the sheath of the nerve. This envelope holds the place of the cornea and sclerotica of more highly organized eyes. Within it is contained an irregularly- shaped cup, 8, of black pigmentary matter, which embraces the posterior half of a spherical, colourless, highly refractive erystal- line lens, c. The anterior border of this pigmentary or choroid coat appears to be free, and is irregularly crenate. Over the front of the lens, and separated from it by a narrow interval, is a transparent tunic, d, which is most aptly compared to the anterior capsule of the lens of the higher animals, though some may deem it the homologue of the cornea. The back part of the choroid coat seems to be pierced by the optic nerve, but from the minuteness of the organ and the opacity of the choroid, we have not been able to determine the exact relation of the retina to the pigmen- tary layer, nor the existence of a vitreous body. The degree of vision enjoyed by these animals must be slight. They can distinguish hght from darkness, and can probably ap- preciate imperfectly different degrees of light, and as the eyes are placed under the skin of the head, their perception of objects must be exceedingly faint and indistinct. The auditory apparatus consists of a minute, elliptical, delicate, and transparent capsule, Pl. V. figs. 1 & 2. no. 17, less than the eye, directly behind which it is situated ; it appears sessile upon the external border of the median cerebral ganglion, but there are faint indications of a pedicle or a nerve that enters the capsule at the front. The long diameter of the capsule lies in the antero- posterior direction ; within this capsule, figs. 4 & 5 a, is another, 5, still more delicate and much smaller. This latter contains numerous very minute, oval corpuscles or otolithes, fig.4:c, smooth, transparent, and highly refractive of light. In the centre of each an obscure dot, fig. 6, occurs, which, when highly magnified, ex- hibits a distinct appearance of nucleus and nucleolus. They are seen as we have described them in £. papillosa and E. coronata ; but in E. aurantiaca and E. olivacea, in FL. picta and E. exigua, there is only one large spherical otolithe, fig. 5 5, which presents also indications on its surface of nucleus and nucleolus. These capsules are specimens of the auditory organ in perhaps its simplest form, and as such are adapted for the most limited Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Eolis. 197 perception of sonorous undulations. Since it has been ascertained that L. punctata and Dendronotus arborescens do emit sounds, it seems probable that these organs may be provided for the per- ception of such. These crystalline-looking bodies are stated to be calcareous, but on treating them with acetic acid we did not find after the lapse of some time that any material change had taken place. In investigating the different organs of Holis, we have endea- voured, as we at first proposed, to place their anatomy and phy- siology in as clear and correct a light as possible, and to show in what particulars we differ from M. de Quatrefages, and now in terminating this memoir we are in a position to state, that his anatomical details are with regard to every organ more or less erroneous. We are very glad therefore to learn that he has been led to forgo his proposed order Phlebenterata, and we may express a hope that the whole hypothesis of Phlebenterism as applied to the Mollusca will soon be abandoned. This Phlebenterism, which was first brought to light by M. Milne-Edwards, and maintained by him and M. de Quatrefages and some of the most distin- guished French naturalists, and which implies a fusion of the digestive and vascular systems by a marked degradation of the latter that reduces these Nudibranchiata almost to the condition of the Radiata, is, if we understand it at all, founded on the as- sumption that no veins or true auricle any more than a true in- testine exists in the Holidide and other allied genera,—that the functions of respiration, chylification, and the secretion of bile are cumulated in the branchial papille, and that the ramifica- tions of the digestive system in some way or other supply the deficiency which was supposed to exist at the venous part of the circulation, and also distributed the digested portions of aliment throughout the body. But on full consideration of what is put forth as Phlebenterism in the Mollusca by the French naturalists, we confess our inability to arrive at a precise understanding of what is meant by the term. We believe we have in our account of the anatomy of Holis brought forward evidence enough to overthrow Phlebenterism, such as we conceive it to be as applied to these animals, and we will now in conclusion, and as briefly as we can, recapitulate what we have before advanced, adding some new observations which now occur to us. First, we have demonstrated that the vascular system is not in that state of degradation supposed by the French savans. We have shown a well-formed heart, consisting of ventricle and auricle, in- closed in a pericardial sac, the ventricle giving off an aorta that branches away to supply the principal viscera and the foot. The 198 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. hepatic artery is wanting, but the fact of the liver being minutely divided among the branchial papille, and the divisions being thus placed in contact with aérated blood, explains this hiatus and ne- cessitates it. The auricle receives three principal venous trunks, each of which is made up of several branches from the skin ante- riorly and posteriorly. These trunks have been called branchio- cardiac by M. Milne-Edwards and his followers, under the convic- tion that the whole of the blood passes to the heart from the branchial papille by them. We find nothing in Kolis to favour the opinion that the whole of the blood is conducted by afferent vessels from the body or intervisceral lacune direct to the branchiz, and thence exclusively by efferent vessels to the auricle. We see that the network of lacunz in the thickness of the skin receives the blood from the interior of the body, and allows it to flow freely therein in all directions ; part of it doubtless passes to the branchial papille, but part also must go at once along the veins to the auricular part of the heart. In other words, the veins draw their blood from the sinuses or lacunz of the skin, and this suc- tion, so to speak, attracts the vital fluid at one and the same time from the branchial papille and the lacune of the body, so that the veins, instead of being merely branchio-cardiac, are really both systemic and pulmonary together. We have likewise pointed out small veins gomg from one of the viscera, the ovarium, into the skin at the side of the body, and even a small vessel of similar character going from the ovarium into the posterior me- dian trunk-vein ; the latter of course are systemic veins. Again, we find corroboration of this view of the parts mm Kolis if we look to Doris: here the auricle receives three branches, one from each side, and one from behind as in Kolis; this last branch in Doris is made up of veinlets from the respiratory organs alone, and hence may properly be called pulmonary or branchio-cardiac; the two lateral branches come not from the special respiratory organ at all, but directly from the skin. Now although the skin in Doris may have in some measure a function like that of the Folidida, it must from its peculiar nature perform that function in a most imperfect manner ; hence we ought to look upon these lateral venous trunks in a corresponding inverse ratio as systemic veins. Thus both in Doris and in Eolis the blood enters the auricle in a state of only partial aération, one portion reaching it from the respiratory organ, and another from the general system. In the Crustacea the blood in the great dorsal sinus is in the same state, a fact that John Hunter had long ago ascertamed, and Professor Owen has more recently confirmed. Here surely there is not that degradation implied in the idea of Phleben- terism ; and according to M. Milne-Edwards’ own showing, the Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. 199 vascular system is at least as perfect in the Eolidide as in the Doridide,—nay even as complete as in the majority of the Gas- teropoda. Secondly, the neryous system has been shown to consist of ganglia well-developed and concentrated, and of numerous and large nerves ; the eye, the ear, taste perhaps, certainly common sensibility exist, smell as well, and if our views be correct, to as high a degree as in any of the Mollusca; in short, the nervous system has reached a grade of organization higher than in the majority of the Gasteropods. This is most important evidence that the Holidide are not in the degraded state implied by Phle- benterism. Thirdly, in these animals the respiratory system may be looked upon as somewhat less specialized than in other Gasteropoda, but it is sufficiently developed and specialized in the branchial papille to prevent us from attributing its function, even in part, to the prolongations of the digestive system. Fourthly, we have pointed out the singular development and complexity of the genital organs, which are not in these respects inferior to many other Gasteropoda, and certainly similar to the genitalia of the Doridide, with the exception that in Holis the ovarium is much more bulky. Fifthly, from the certainly not lower state of development of those systems of organs we have enumerated, it ought not to be expected that there should be any degradation of the digestive system of Kolis, and accordingly we find fleshy sensitive lips with superadded tentacles, a strong muscular buccal mass with horny cutting jaws, and a spiny prehensile tongue, minute salivary ap- paratus, a constricted cesophagus, a well-marked stomachal sac, with the adjunct of a distinct intestine ending in a lateral anal nipple. So far we find no deviation from the Gasteropodous type ; the liver however is as it were broken up into as many pieces as there are branchial papille, and which by a series of ducts of variable number communicate with the stomach. Why, it may be asked, does the hepatic organ not occupy its usual place in the body ? The enormous development of the ovary we suppose necessitates the removal to the exterior which we observe, and the organ thus thrust out is divided among the papillee, ap- parently for the purpose of ensuring its being constantly bathed with aérated blood, whilst at the same time by this arrangement the body of Holis is kept of small dimensions, a condition pro- bably rendered necessary by some peculiarities in the ceconomy and habits of the creature with which we are unacquainted. By this arrangement also the hepatic artery becomes unnecessary. Phlebenterism supposes that the chyle or nutritive part of the food passes into the blood-current of the system through the 200 Messrs. Hancock and Embleton on the Anatomy of Holis. ramifications as they are termed of the gastric cavity, which are prolonged into the papille. It cannot however be contended that the chyle is transuded through the granular or glandular part, such as occurs in many of the Kolidide in the papille, since it is manifestly a secreting and not an absorbing surface, and the current must set from without inwards. Now in LE. de- specta the central duct or stem, and its accessory ducts, as well as their terminations in the papille, are granular throughout ; therefore the fact of the whole apparatus being one for secretion precludes the idea that the products of digestion can pass into the system from this organ. This arrangement we see in a still more striking manner in several others of the Holidide, as in Hermea dendritica, in which all parts of the much-branched hepatic organ are alike granular. In Ewmenis marmorata, in which they are even follicular throughout, and in Dendronotus arborescens*, the central duct is crowded with compound follicles, and all the branches are more or less follicular for a short di- stance, and then become simply granular ; deed in this genus the posterior part of the stomach and the intestine are the only parts which are free from the above granular character. We are therefore led to conclude that it is from the pyloric end of the stomach and from the intestine that exudation or absorption of the chyle takes place, and this conclusion is strengthened by the fact, that it is in the intestine that the contents first assume their fecal character. We may add also that in Doto, the intestine, which is short and wide, is in the interior longitudinally plicated, as if thus to increase the extent of the absorbing surface. In conclusion then we hope to have shown, that not in any of the systems of organs is Eolis notably below the Nudi- branchiate type; and we trust that this memoir, if it serve no other purpose, will at least assist m rescuing this genus, and * In this genus we see an intermediate link between those members of the Nudibranchiata which are provided with a concentrated internal hepatic organ and the Folidide, a fact which we pointed out two years ago. The central duct is in fact nothing else than a true liver reduced somewhat in bulk, but being diffused by its prolongations into the branchial papilla. Another intermediate form and still more interesting link between the two extremes, as it exhibits the first step in the deviation of the liver from the typical state, is seen in Scy/l@a, and which we noticed in a paper communi- cated to the Oxford meeting of the British Association. The liverin Scyllea is broken up into several globular masses of convoluted tubes sending off minute branches that ramify in the skin and penetrate the branchial tufts. In a paper by M. E. Blanchard in the ‘ Annales des Sciences Naturelles’ for March 1848, we observe that that gentleman has discovered in Tethys a similar arrangement of parts, and points this out as an excellent intermediate illustration of the affinities that exist among the different members of the Nudibranchiate group, and we are happy thus to find in his researches a corroboration of the fact which we had previously cited for the same end. wiessrs. Hancoca and Embleton on the Anatomy of Kolis. 201 through it the Eolidide, from the degradation which M. de Qua- trefages and others from imperfect observations had too hastily imputed to them. EXPLANATION OF PLATES V. anp VI. PLate V. Fig. 1. Nervous system of Eolis papillosa: aa, median supra-cesophageal or cerebral ganglia ; 6 6, lateral supra-cesophayeal ditto; ¢ c, buc- cal ditto; dd, gastro-cesophageal ditto; ee, olfactory ditto; f, anterior median commissure ; g, posterior median ditto, or com- missure of the buccal ganglia; hh, commissure between median and lateral supra-cesophageal ganglia; i, innermost or shortest cesophageal nervous collar; 7, slender or middle ditto; 4, outer- most or widest ditto, Nerves from supra-cesophageal ganglia: Nos. 1 and 2, small nerves to skin of head; 3, olfactory tractus or nerves; 4, nerve to the outer lip; 5, ditto to skin of head between dorsal tentacles; 6, ditto to oral tentacles and roof of channel of mouth; 7 and 8, ditto to skin of side of head; 9, ditto to muscles attaching buccal mass to skin, and to sides of channel of mouth; 10 and 11, ditto to skin at side of head; 12 and 138, ditto to skin down side of body below the rows of papilla; 14 and 15, ditto to skin of side of head near the tentacles ; 16, optic nerves; 17, auditory ditto; 18, nerves to the foot; 19, ditto to skin down side of body to papillz (respiratory nerve); 20, ditto to skin of back; 21, 22 and 23, ditto to skin of back near median line. Nerves from infra-cesophageal ganglia: 1, small nerves to stomach; 2, 3 and 4, smaller ditto to cesophagus and stomach; 5, large ditto passing into the buccal mass ; 6, small ditto to back part of buccal mass. Nerves from cesophageal collars: «, minute nerves from innermost collar, destination unknown; £, genital and probably cardiac nerves; y, nerves from outermost collar passing into buccal mass; 8, single nerve from middle collar, probably gastric ; «, large nerve coming out of buccal mass from a ganglionic swelling, and passing to be distributed to glands of papilla of skin; ¢, the ganglionic swelling situated in buccal mass, from which the large nerve e comes off ; n, branch of communication between the large nerve ¢ and the outermost cesophageal collar. Fig. 2. Nervous system of EL. Drummondi. The letters correspond to those in last fig. except one, 8, which marks a small ganglionic swelling in connexion with middle collar and genital nerve. Fig. 3. Eye of £. picta: a, outer capsule; 6, pigmentary cup; ¢, lens ; d, capsule of ditto. Fig. 4. Auditory capsule of £. papillosa: a, outer capsule; 0, inner ditto ; c, otolithes. Fig. 5. Auditory capsule of EZ. picta: references as in last fig. Fig. 6. Two otolithes from E. papillosa highly magnified (th object-glass), showing nucleus and nucleolus. Pruate VI. Fig. 1. Nervous system of EZ. coronata. Letters as in Plate V. figs. 1 & 2. Fig. 2. a, buccal ganglion of E. papillosa slightly compressed and magnified to show the vesicular contents; 6, nerve coming from same, 202 Notice of some Mammalia and Birds from Upper India. Fig. 3. Group of pear-shaped nerve-globules with pedicles all lying in same direction, the globules showing large nuclei and nucleoli from cerebral ganglion of E. papillosa. Fig. 4. Two isolated, pear-shaped, pedicled, nucleated nerve-corpuscles of large size from the same. Fig. 5. Smallest cells, bright and transparent, probably nucleoli, from the same. Fig. 6. Side view of dorsal tentacle of Z. coronata: a, olfactory ganglion and nerve. Fig. 7. Dorsal tentacle with sheath, Doto fragilis. Fig. 8. Lateral view of ditto ditto, Dendronotus arborescens. Fig. 9. Front view of ditto ditto ditto. Fig. 10. Side view of dorsal tentacles and Jaminated crest of Antiopa splen- dida : a a, tentacles ; b, laminated crest ; ¢, ganglionic swelling in front of median cerebral ganglion; d d, tractus olfactorius to lami- nated crest ; ee, ditto ditto to tentacle. Fig. 11. Front view of dorsal tentacle of Doris coccinea, showing central stem and lamin. Fig. 12. Olfactory laminz of Burn Trout, showing its resemblance to those of Doris coccinea: a, nostril; 6, central stem; c, lamine. XX.—Brief Notice of several Mammalia and Birds discovered by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., in Upper India. By Tuomas Hors- FIELD, M.D. &c. Dear Sir, Library, East India House, Feb. 12, 1849. B. H. Hopeson, Esq., late British resident at Nepal, who is now zealously pursuing his researches into the natural history of the upper provinces of India, has lately presented to the museum of the East India Company, a small collection of mammalia from the neighbourhood of Sikim and Darjeling, and two birds from Tibet ; and (Mr. Hodgson) being desirous that a concise notice of them may be communicated to the public without delay, until he shall have an opportunity of publishing a more detailed de- scription of the new species, I request you, in his name, to insert the following list, with a few remarks, into an early number of the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History.’ Yours faithfully, Richard Taylor, Esq. Tuomas HorsFiE.p. List of Mammauia from Sikim and Darjeling, near Nepal, in Upper India. Numbers 1 to 4 have already been described and published. 1. Genus Porcuna, Hodgson, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xvii. p. 423, with a figure. Type Porcula Salvania®, Hodgson. * Salvania, ef or belonging to the Saul forest. Notice of some Mammalia and Birds from Upper India. 203 Sp. Char. Pigmy hog of a black-brown colour, slightly and irregularly shaded with sordid amber; iris hazel; nude skin dirty flesh-colour ; hoofs glossy brown. Length from snout to vent 18 to 20 inches; height 8 to 10 inches; weight 7 to 10, rarely 12 lbs. 2. Talpa micrura, Hodgs., Classified Catalogue of Mammals of Nepal; Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. x. p. 910. 8. Rhizomys badius, Hodgs., Classified Catalogue of Mam- mals of Nepal; Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. x. p. 915. 4. Lepus (Caprolagus) hispidus, Pearson. Described by J. T. Pearson, Esq. in the ‘ Bengal Sporting Magazine.’ The following Mr. Hodgson indicates as undescribed, and they form an appropriate supplement to his Essay on the Rats, Mice, and Shrews of the Central Region of Nepal, printed in vol. xvi. of the ‘ Annals of Natural History,’ &c. p. 266, &c. 5. Nuopon, n. g., Hodgson. Neodon Sikimensis, Hodgs. This animal Mr. Hodgson con- siders as a new type, though in many respects allied to Arvicola. Mr. J. E. Gray at my request has kindly compared the specimen with the Murimes from India contained in the British Museum ; it appears to be nearly allied to Arvicola Roylei, Gray, described in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ vol. x. p. 265. There are, however, in the Neodon some differences in the folds of the upper and lower grinders; these, with the other distinguishing cha- racters of this type, will be pointed out in Mr. Hodgson’s de- tailed description. 6. Mus equicaudalis, Hodgs. Tail equal in length with the body. 7, Mus caudatior, Hodgs. Tail exceeding the body in length. 8. Mus Darjilingensis, Hodgs. 9. Sorex Sikimensis, Hodgs. 10. Sorex caudatus, Hodgs. Birps. 1. Pica Tibetana, Hodgs. Mr. G. R. Gray, who has carefully compared this bird with specimens in the British Museum, states that “it differs from the European by its greater size, and by the white of the quills not extending to near the tip. In the English specimens the white comes within 8 lines of the tip.” It appears to be allied to Pica megaloptera, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. of Bengal, vol. xi. p. 193. 2. Corvus Tibetanus, Hodgs. Nearly allied to Corvus coraz, but somewhat larger in size: the bill also is stouter. 204 Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chaleidites XXI.—Notes on Chalcidites, and Descriptions of various new species. By Francis Waker, F.L.S. Isosoma Madere, fem. 4neo-atrum, capite fulvo bimaculato, an- tennis pedibusque nigris, genubus tarsisque fulvis, alis subflavis. Body black, convex, with a scarcely perceptible bronze tint, spa- ringly clothed with hairs: head and chest punctured: head transverse, subquadrate, somewhat rounded in front, shining, very finely punc- tured, having two very indistinct tawny spots behind, a little broader than the chest : eyes dark red : feelers black, somewhat slender, rather more than half the length of the body; their breadth increases but very slightly from the base to the tips; first joint long, bright tawny, slightly spindle-shaped; second long-obconical, piceous, tawny at the tip ; third a little longer than the second ; fourth shorter than the third; fifth shorter than the fourth; the two following joints also successively decreasing in length; club spindle-shaped, very little broader but more than twice the length of the seventh joint : chest nearly spindle-shaped, broader in front : fore-chest sub~ quadrate, shining, very finely punctured, a little broader than long, well developed ; fore-angles tawny and somewhat rounded : shield of the mid-chest shining, very finely and sparingly punctured, almost narrower than the fore-chest ; sutures of the parapsides very strongly marked, converging till they reach the hind-border of the shield, where their distance from each other is a little less than one-third of its breadth; axille large, and nearly conniving on the back, being separated there from each other by less than one-sixth of the breadth of the chest; scutcheon conical, rather more thickly punctured than the fore-part of the body; it has a rim along its hind-border which joins the hind-scutcheon; the latter is very short : hind-chest well developed, declining, obconical, rugulose: petiole short, rugulose, nearly cylindrical, not half the length of the hind-chest: abdo- men long-elliptical, smooth, shining, clothed with a few white hairs, compressed at the tip, a little shorter but hardly broader than the chest ; metapodeon occupying about one-fourth of the back ; octoon not half the length of the metapodeon ; ennaton a little shorter than the octoon ; decaton a little longer than the ennaton; each of the three following segments equalling the decaton in length: legs black ; knees, feet, and tips of thighs, of hips and of shanks tawny ; tips of four hinder feet piceous: wings with a slight yellow tinge; veins luteous ; ulna much less than half the length of the humerus ; radius shorter than the ulna ; cubitus shorter than the radius ; brand very small. Length of the body 14 line; of the wings 21 lines. This and the twelve following species were found in the island of Madeira by Mr. Wollaston, to whose kindness I am indebted for the opportunity of examining them. Isosoma minor. Dicyclus Amage, mas. Viridi-eneus, abdomine purpureo, antennis nigris, pedibus piceo-fulvis, femoribus eneis, alis limpidis. Head and chest convex, bronze, finely shagreened : head large, y Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chaleidites. 205 much broader than the chest, green towards the mouth ; jaws fer- ruginous: eyes and eyelets dark piceous: feelers black ; first joint piceous, tawny at the base: chest nearly elliptical : fore-chest short, much rounded in front; its length not more than one-fourth of its breadth : shield of the mid-chest rather short ; sutures of the parap- sides very indistinct; axille parted by one-fourth of the breadth of the chest ; scutcheon truncate-conical, rather large: hind-chest well developed, obconical, declining, brassy green, with a ridge along the middle and a rim on each side, where there are also a few white hairs : petiole short and very slender ; abdomen flat, smooth, shining, purple, bright coppery green at the base, a little longer than broad ; metapodeon occupying more than one-third of the back, its hind- border convex ; octoon not half the length of the metapodeon ; en- naton shorter than the octoon; decaton as long as the ennaton ; the following segments shorter: hips and thighs brassy ; trochanters and shanks piceous ; knees and feet tawny, tips of the latter piceous; fore-shanks and fore-feet brown: wings colourless; veins pale brown; ulna about half the length of the humerus; radius a little longer than the ulna; cubitus shorter than the ulna, slightly curved ; brand dark brown, of moderate size. Length of the body 1 line; of the wings 2 lines. Dicyclus nigro-zeneus. Pachyneuron formosum. Pteromalus Carinus, mas. A/neo-viridis, abdomine purpureo flavo maculato basi eneo-viridi, antennis nigris, pedibus flavis, metafemo- ribus fulvis, alis limpidis, proalis fusco maculatis. Bright green, with a very slight brassy tint : head and chest convex, shining, finely shagreened: head a little broader than the chest ; front vertical : eyes and eyelets red : feelers black, slender, subclavate, as long as the chest ; first joint long, slender, tawny ; second cup- shaped, piceous, tawny at the tip; third and fourth very short ; fifth and the following joints to the tenth successively decreasing in length and increasing in breadth; club elliptical, rather broader than the tenth joint and a little more than twice its length: chest nearly elliptical : fore-chest short, narrower in front; its length less than one-fourth of its breadth: shield of the mid-chest broader than long ; sutures of the parapsides very indistinct, approaching each other till they reach the hind-border, where they are separated by one-sixth of the breadth of the chest ; axille rather large, separated by somewhat less than one-third of the breadth of the chest; scutcheon nearly conical, truncate in front, with a rim along its hind-border, a little more con- vex than the shield ; hind-scutcheon visible but very short : hind- chest obconical, declining, with an indistinct suture along the middle and arim on each side: petiole very short, not one-fourth of the length of the hind.chest : abdomen nearly conical, a little narrower and much shorter than the chest, depressed, smooth, shining, dark purple, with a large pale yellow spot near the base which is brassy green ; metapodeon occupying about one-third of the back ; octoon 206 Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chaleidites. and following segments of moderate and nearly equal size: legs yel- low; hips brassy green; hind-thighs and tips of feet dull tawny : wings colourless, rather broad; a large brown spot occupying most of the dise of each fore-wing; veins tawny; ulna rather more than half the length of the humerus ; radius a little longer than the ulna; cubitus much shorter than the ulna; brand large, piceous. Length of the body # line ; of the wings 14 line. Pteromalus Anaxis, mas. Viridis, abdomine purpureo basi viridi- cupreo, antennis nigris, pedibus flavis, femoribus piceo-viridibus, alis limpidis. Head and chest convex, very finely shagreened, bright green : head large, broader than the chest, with a broad shallow furrow extending from the eyelets to the base of the feelers : eyes and eyelets piceous ; jaws ferruginous: feelers black, filiform, as long as the head and the chest; first joint long, slender, very slightly curved, tawny from the base to the middle and piceous thence to the tip; second also piceous and shining ; third and fourth extremely minute ; the follow- ing from the fifth to the tenth successively decreasing in length ; club linear, pointed at the tip, a little more than twice the length of the tenth joint: chest nearly elliptical: fore-chest very short, its length hardly one-sixth of its breadth: shield of the mid-chest of moderate size, its disc rather flat; sutures of the parapsides indi- stinct ; axille parted by one-fourth of the breadth of the chest ; scut- cheon truncate-conical, more convex than the shield: hind-chest well developed, obconical, declining, with a ridge along the middle : petiole very short, coppery: abdomen long-elliptical, greenish cop- pery, smooth, shining, nearly flat, dark purple on the disc, very little shorter but much narrower than the chest; metapodeon occupying nearly half of the back, bright green towards the base, where it is concave; octoon not half the length of the metapodeon; ennaton shorter than the octoon; decaton as long as the octoon; the fol- lowing segments very short : sexual parts long, pale tawny : legs very bright yellow ; hips green ; thighs piceous tinged with green, which dark colour as usual prevails most in the hind-legs and least in the fore-legs ; fore-feet tawny ; four hinder feet brown, first joint. yellow : wings colourless ; veins piceous; humerus twice the length of the ulna ; radius as long as the ulna ; cubitus very nearly as long as the radius; brand of moderate size. Length of the body 1 line ; of the wings 2 lines. Pteromalus Scopas, mas. Aineo-viridis, abdominis disco purpureo, antennis fuscis, pedibus fulvis, femoribus viridibus, tibiis fusco fasciatis, alis limpidis—Fem. Abdominis disco cupreo, antennis piceis, tibiis piceis, tarsis flavis. Head and chest convex, finely shagreened: head green, a little broader than the chest : eyes and eyelets red : feelers brown, filiform, rather stout, a little shorter than the head and the chest ; first joint piceous, linear, very slightly curved, tawny at the base; second also piceous and shining ; third and fourth extremely minute ; the follow- Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chalcidites. 207 ing from the fifth to the tenth successively but very slightly decreasing in length ; club long-conical, a little more than twice the length of the tenth joint: chest oval, brassy green, rather narrower towards the hind part : fore-chest very short, its length not more than one- eighth of its breadth: shield of the mid-chest broad ; sutures of the parapsides very indistinct ; axille parted by full one-fourth of the breadth of the chest ; scutcheon truncate-conical, rather long : hind- chest of moderate size, obconical, abruptly declining, nearly smooth, with a ridge along the middle and a rim on each side: petiole ex- tremely short : abdomen spindle-shaped, flat, smooth, shining, green, dark purple on the disc, bright coppery green at the base, shorter and much narrower than the chest: metapodeon occupying near half the back ; octoon not one-fourth of the length of the metapo- deon ; ennaton longer than the octoon; decaton a little shorter than the ennaton ; the following segments very short: sexual parts long, tawny : legs tawny ; hips and thighs green, tips of the latter yellow ; trochanters piceous; a broad brown brand across each of the four hinder thighs ; four hinder feet pale tawny with piceous tips : wings colourless ; veins tawny ; humerus more than twice the length of the ulna; radius a little longer than the ulna; cubitus shorter than the radius ; brand small. Fem. Head and chest green, with a slight brassy tinge: head . bluish green behind, rather broader than the chest: feelers clavate, piceous, shorter than the head and chest ; first jot green, tawny at the base ; the joints from the fifth to the tenth successively increasing in breadth and decreasing in length; club short-conical, broader than the tenth joint and full twice its length : abdomen oval, a little broader but not longer than the chest; bright green with the disc bronze, slightly compressed at the tip, concave above, very deeply keeled beneath, where it forms an angle whence it rises to the tip, which is much elevated, metapodeon occupying less than one-fourth of the back, its hind-border convex ; octoon not half the length of the meta- podeon ; each of the three following segments as long as the octoon ; paratelum shorter; telum longer; these segments are of more equal length beneath, where two or three ventral segments are visible towards the base of the abdomen: legs yellow; hips and thighs green; tips of the latter yellow; trochanters dark tawny; fore- shanks and fore-feet tawny ; four hinder shanks piceous with yellow tips; four hinder feet with piceous tips: veins of the wings pale tawny; brand brown. Length of the body 1-14 line; of the wings 21-23 lines. Pteromalus Calamis, mas et fem. neo-viridis, abdomine pur- pureo, antennis nigris, pedibus fulvis, femoribus mari piceis fem. obscure fulvis, alis limpidis. Body convex: head and chest extremely finely shagreened: head bluish green, rather large and thick, a little broader than the chest : eyes and eyelets piceous: feelers black, very slightly subclavate, nearly as long as the head and the chest; first joint long, slender, linear tawny ; second long cup-shaped ; third and fourth extremely minute ; 208 Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chalcidites. the following joints from the fifth to the tenth nearly equal in length but slightly increasing in breadth ; club long-conical, hardly broader than the tenth joint, but more than twice its length: chest nearly elliptical, brassy green : fore-chest rather short, its length about one- fourth of its breadth : shield of the mid-chest rather short ; sutures of the parapsides very indistinct; axille large, parted by about one- sixth of the breadth of the chest ; scutcheon conical, coppery, rather prominent; hind-scutcheon very short, but visible: hind-chest well developed, obconical, declining, with a ridge along the middle and a rim on each side: petiole very short: abdomen nearly round, smooth, shining, purple, about half the length of the chest ; meta- podeon blue with a copper tinge at the base ; octoon and ennaton of moderate size; the following segments extremely short, hardly visible: sexual parts long, pale: legs tawny ; hips green; thighs piceous ; knees yellow; four hinder feet pale tawny with piceous tips : wings colourless; veins pale brown; ulna much shorter than the humerus, but more than half its length ; radius much shorter than the ulna; cubitus a little shorter than the radius, and rather more than half the length of the ulna; brand very small. Fem. Head and chest dull green : head very little broader than the chest : feelers subclavate, shorter than the head and chest ; first joint tawny ; second piceous ; third and fourth tawny ; the following joints from the fifth to the tenth successively decreasing in length and increasing in breadth ; club elliptical, broader than the tenth joint and nearly thrice its length : scutcheon dull coppery ; abdomen long ob- conical, smooth, shining, dull purple, as long and rather broader than the chest, keeled beneath, and having there an angle whose hinder line rises abruptly from the middle to the tip; metapodeon bright green, concave at the base, nearly one-fourth of the length of the abdomen; the following segments successively and slightly decreasing in length: legs tawny; hips green; thighs dark tawny ; four hinder feet pale tawny with piceous tips. Length of the body 2~1 line ; of the wings 14-1} line. Allied to Pt. hemipterus, apicalis, and conifer. Cerchysius Euphranor, fem. Aneo-viridis, abdomine cupreo apice purpureo, antennis nigris, pedibus fulvis, metapedum tibiis apice Ffemoribusque piceis, alis limpidis. Head nearly semicircular, convex in front, slightly concave behind, green, coarsely shagreened, hardly as broad as the chest: eyes and eyelets dark red: feelers subclavate, black, a little shorter than the body , first joint long, subclavate ; second cup-shaped ; the following joints successively increasing in breadth ; club long-conical, broader than the eighth joint and much more than twice its length: chest short, elliptical, convex, finely shagreened: fore-chest extremely short, hardly visible above: shield of the mid-chest short and broad ; axille meeting on the back; no traces of the sutures of the parap- sides ; scutcheon obconical, brassy, flat, more roughly shagreened than the shield ; its fore-border forming an obtuse angle : hind-chest very short, smooth, shining, purplish black: abdomen oblanceolate, Mr. F. Walker on some new species of Chaleidites. 209 coppery, smooth, shining, concave above, deeply keeled beneath, compressed at the tip which is bright purple, a little longer but very much narrower than the chest; metapodeon occupying full one-third of the back; octoon and following segments short: legs tawny; middle legs paler than the fore-legs and dilated as usual ; tips of their feet brown; hind-legs piceous ; their shanks tawny with _piceous tips : wings narrow, nearly colourless except their tips, which are gray ; veins piceous ; ulna about one-third of the length of the humerus; radius much longer than.the ulna; cubitus shorter than the ulna, and forming with the radius a more acute angle than occurs in Encyrtus ; brand extremely small. Length of the body 5 line ; of the wings 1} line. Eulophus Amempsinus. Tetrastichus flavifrons, fem. Nigro-viridis, capite fulvo, abdomine nigro-purpureo, antennis fuscis, pedibus fulvis, metafemoribus piceis, alis limpidis. Body smooth, shining: head tawny, broad, very short, impressed between the eyes, bright yellow and somewhat dilated about the region of the mouth, a little broader than the chest : eyes and eyelets bright red, the former prominent: feelers pale brown, subclavate, rather stout, more than half the length of the body ; first joint long, dilated; second tawny, cup-shaped; the following joints from the third to the sixth successively increasing in breadth and decreasing in length; club long-elliptical, broader than the sixth joint and more than twice its length: chest short-elliptical, convex, greenish black, rather broad: fore-chest very short, its length not more than one- tenth of its breadth: shield of the mid-chest large; sutures of the parapsides very distinct and strongly marked, converging towards the hind-border of the shield; axille parted by one-third of the breadth of the chest ; scutcheon short, obconical, with two parallel sutures along its back: hind-chest short and broad, hardly narrower behind: petiole extremely short, so that the abdomen appears sessile : abdomen short-elliptical, flat, purplish black, a little shorter and narrower than the chest ; metapodeon and three following segments of moderate length; the rest very short: oviduct pale tawny: legs s pale tawny ; tips of feet brown; hind-thighs mostly piceous : wings ‘broad, colourless, pubescent, ciliated ; veins pale tawny ; ulna much longer than the humerus; radius shorter than the ulna; cubitus not one- third of the length of the radius; brand extremely small. Length of the body 4 line ; of the wings 14 line. Tetrastichus Silius, fem. Nigro-eneus, antennis fulvis basi piceis, pedibus fulvis, femoribus piceis, alis limpidis. Body smooth, shining: head black, broad, very short, impressed between the eyes, very littie broader than the chest : eyes and eye- lets bright red, the former prominent : jaws ferruginous : feelers dull tawny, subclavate, rather more than half the length of the body ; first joint piceous ; second cup-shaped ; the following init from the Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. ii. 210 Some Account of the Storm of January in Bedfordshire. third to the sixth successively increasing in breadth and decreasing in length; club long- elliptical, broader than the sixth joint and more than twice its length: chest short-elliptical, convex, brassy, rather broad: fore-chest very short; its length not more than one-tenth of its breadth: shield of the mid-chest large ; sutures of the parap- sides very distinct and strongly marked ; axille parted by one-third of the breadth of the chest; scutcheon short, obconical, with two parallel sutures along its back: hind-chest short, broad, obconical, declining: petiole extremely short: abdomen long-elliptical, flat, bronze-black, slightly concave above, slightly keeled beneath, shorter and much narrower than the chest ; metapodeon and three following segments of moderate length; the rest very short: legs pale tawny ; tips of feet brown; thighs mostly piceous : wings broad, colourless, pubescent, ciliated ; veins pale tawny ; ulna much longer than the humerus ; radius shorter than the ulna; cubitus not one-third of the length of the radius; brand extremely small. Length of the body 3 line; of the wings 14 line. Var. (3. Body black. XXII.—Some Account of the storm of January in Bedfordshire. By Joun Martin, Esq. To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. GENTLEMEN, Froxfield, Feb. 14th, 1849. A REMARKABLE storm took place on Sunday the 14th of Janu- ary 1849. A few particulars relating to it may be found inter- esting to those who attend to meteorological pursuits. The information with respect to it, in this communication, is chiefly confined to what occurred in the park of the Duke of Bed- ford, and is obtained from His Grace’s land steward, Thomas Bennett, Esq. The hurricane, attended by a heavy fall of rain, passed over Woburn Park about half-past two o’clock p.m. The direction it took was from the north-west to south-east ; its range did not appear to extend more than a quarter of a mile. The writer of this, who resides at the edge of the park, scarcely half a mile from the principal scene of destruction, was not aware of what was going on so close to him. The sun was shining a few minutes previously, and although the wind blew rather strongly, yet not perceptibly stronger than it had been blowing for some days. Its greatest violence did not continue more than a quarter of an hour. As far as information has been obtained as to its appearance in this vicinity, it was first observed at Fenny Strat- ford and Bow Brickhill on the borders of Bedfordshire. At these places several trees were thrown down as well as many old buildings. On Bow Brickhill Heath, where there is a large fir Some Account of the Storm of January in Bedfordshire. 211 plantation of the Duke of Bedford’s, several fir-trees were rooted up ; the destructive effects of the storm may be tracked, through that and an adjoining plantation on Wavendon Heath, to the Fuller’s-earth Lodge on the high road to Northampton. From this place to Woburn Park there was no obstruction offered to its progress. It attacked the evergreens in a plantation at Crawley Grange near the gate of some water-meadows on the west, and continued from thence to Crawley Grange plantations on the east. Several very large trees were uprooted by the violence of the wind, principally spruce fir, and many others broken in the middle by their fall. It then took the course of a hollow in a plantation of evergreens in Crawley Dean Hills, clearing away all that resisted its progress—passing over the open part without causing much damage. At Flitwick, about five miles distant, a windmill was blown down, its cap and sails destroyed—half of one of the latter was carried sixty yards before it fell, and then rebounded ten yards further. One of the flaps, made of iron and canvas, was blown to a distance of one hundred yards from the mill. Several houses and barns in the village were untiled. The storm then appears to have passed off in the direction of Hitchin, on the borders of Hertfordshire. Its fury however ap- pears in a great measure to have been spent on the plantations of the Duke of Bedford, in the park and its vicinity. The number of trees blown down and broken on this property is about five hundred. The principal damage was to the fir tribe, and this is perhaps to be accounted for from their leaves holding the wind, offering an obstacle to the gale, while the leafless state of oaks, beeches, and other timber presented in this respect no resistance. A person who was on his way to Brickhill describes the violence of the storm to have been so great, as to force up the gravel on the road, and carry thorn bushes between two and three hundred yards. Several trees were blown down near him ; the window- shutters of a house torn off; and all this destruction is stated not to have occupied more than a mimute and a half. It was ac- companied by a torrent of rain. A young man who was going from Crawley to Woburn encountered the storm. Rain not falling when he left home, he had not provided himself with any defence from what he did not anticipate on starting; he states that he had not proceeded more than ten minutes on his way, on arriving at the corner of the park wall on the road from Ampt- hill to Woburn, when his clothes and hat were entirely soaked through by a most heavy rain. In endeavouring to pass along the foot-path which runs close under the wall, it was with the utmost difficulty, owing to the violence of the storm, that he could maintain his footing ; indeed it was so violent as to compel 14* 212 Some Account of the Storm of January in Bedfordshire. him to retrace his steps. He had reached on his way back the corner of the wall close to the fir plantation i the Grange Belt, which he had only passed a few minutes previously, when he saw the whole clump of trees growing at the corner simultaneously laid prostrate. The action of the wind appeared to him to heave them up; in all probability, the blast, acting under the greater and lower branches, raised them in this manner. He describes the air around him as being darkened with the young shoots of the trees, mingled with thatch from haystacks in the adjoining fields ; the roar of the storm was so great as entirely to drown the sound of the falling timber, although he stood so close to the scene of its fury. A gig with three persons in it had only passed a few seconds previously ; though conscious that trees were falling, they did not actually witness them; it was with the utmost diffi- culty that the horse kept its legs, and the weight alone of the three prevented the vehicle itself from bemg blown over. At the lodge called the Deans there is a very fine Weymouth pine ; the keeper describes this tree as appearing to shiver to its very base, seemingly heaving up, as though underground action was at work ; happily for the security of the cottage it rode out the storm. A person residing at Castle Thorpe, two miles south of Hans- lape in Northamptonshire, states that the day was remarkably clear till half-past one, when he distinctly saw the storm-cloud rise from the west and overspread the sky in a quarter of an hour and proceed eastward. From information obtained through the kindness of a friend, it appears that the storm was observed at Bristol between twelve and one, and rather later at Cheltenham ; its course is not known to me thence until it arrived at Fenny Stratford, Bow Brickhill and Woburn Park—at Bishops Stortford and Colchester it was noticed at about three o’clock. It most probably swept across the island, rising in the British Channel and terminating in the German Ocean. On reference to the map, it appears to have assumed a semicircular shape, agreeably to the law laid down by Col. Reid in his very interesting record of facts in his work upon that subject. Some of your correspondents may have noticed its progress in other localities, and thus more effectually complete the course it took, and more decidedly establish im this instance the value of Col. Reid’s theory. _ The remarks with which I trouble you were intended princi- pally to describe the effects of the storm in the Duke of Bedford’s Park, where, from all that has been collected during its progress, the chief injury was sustained. I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, Joann Martin. Rey. J. F. Dawson on new species of Coleoptera. 213 XXII1.—Descriptions of five new species of Coleoptera. By the Rev. J. F. Dawson, LL.B. Section GEHODEPHAGA. Fam. Harpatipe, MacLeay. Genus Amara, Bon. 1. Amara Vectensis. Oblonga convexa enea nitida, interdum cz- ruleo-nigra: elytris punctato-striatis : antennarum articulis tribus primis rufo-testaceis: tibiis tarsisque rufo-ferrugineis. Long. 4} lin. Oblong convex, body beneath shining black : head, thorax and elytra brassy brown: sometimes ereenish brass, rarely blue-black, not always concolorous: thorax with an oblong deep impression on each side at the base, midway between the hinder angles and the dorsal furrow : elytra regularly and evenly striate, the striz deepening towards the apex and finely punctured for about two- thirds their length, the punctures gradually diminishing behind the middle and totally ceasing when the striz begin to deepen : within the outer margin an irregular line of deep impressions most numerous behind the middle: thighs pitchy black: tibie and tarsi rusty red or pitchy testaceous ; anterior tibize with the spine at the apex tricuspid, the middle mucro being longest and stoutest and slightly curved, the inner one smallest : first, second, third and basal half of the fourth joints of the antenne red, the rest fuscous black. Originally taken at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and referred incor- rectly to tricuspidata, De}. We are indebted to Dr. Schaum for © correcting this error; and his opinion has since been confirmed by other continental entomoiogists, who have pronounced it to be an undescribed species. I have taken it annually for some years past in the north side of the Isle of Wight, but always sparingly, except on one occasion, when in company with my friend Mr. Wollaston (April 1846), it occurred plentifully among refuse left by a flood at Ryde. I have not seen it since. As the species requires a name, I have given it one commemorative of the locality in which it is (I believe exclusively) found. Genus Trechus, Clairville. 2. Trechus incilis. Subtus niger, abdominis apice testaceo, supra nigro-piceus, thorace cordato, convexo, postice angustato, utrinque foveolato, angulis posticis incilis, acutis: elytris oblongo-ovatis, striis quatuor dorsalibus abbreviatis in singulo impressis : antenna- rum 2,3 et 4 articulis nigris, reliquis, palpis pedibusque testaceis. 1 Long. 24 lin. Oblong ovate, dusky pitchy: head with two oblong frontal impressions : thorax heart-shaped, disc convex, broad in front, 214 Rey. J. F. Dawson on new species of Coleoptera. with the sides considerably narrowed towards the hinder angles, which are acute, having a large fovea on each side nearly covering the base: elytra rather convex, the dise of each with three rugged abbreviated strie, and a fourth interrupted and some- what obsolete ; sides and apex smooth, with four or five impres- sions within the margin, near the humeral angles : body beneath shining black, with the tip of the abdomen broadly testaceous : antennee (except the second, third and fourth jomts which are black), palpi and legs red. A pair, taken by myself i in July 1847 at Whittlesea Mere, are the only specimens known. Genus Blemus, Zeigler. 3. Blemus lapidosus. Rufo-testaceus, nitidus, capite interdum piceo, oculis nigris: elytris punctato-striatis, punctisque duobus im- pressis, palpis pedibusque pallidis. Long. 23 lin. Above reddish testaceous, paler beneath: head with a deep longitudinal stria on each side: thorax somewhat heart-shaped, having a deep fovea on each side at the base: elytra depressed, deeply striate, the strive finely punctate, third interstice with two deeper impressions: legs and palpi pale. Taken on the south coast of England some years ago, and erroneously referred to pallidus, Sturm. It appears to have been a scarce species, as I never saw a specimen in any collection tall I had the good fortune to rediscover it about five years ago on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. Dr. Schaum, in his re- marks on the British Carabide published in the Stettin Trans- actions*, has stated that it “ answers perfectly to the description of Trechus fulvus, De}. ;” but in a letter which I received from him shortly after his last visit to England, he observes, in refer- ence to specimens which I had given him, “ It is not Trechus fulvus, De}., as I supposed : the latter, of which I have lately seen a ty pical specimen, is allied, but sufficiently distinct : T’rechus pal- lidus, Sturm., being equally aistinet : your insect ought to re- ceive a new name.” I have assigned it one, indicative of its ha- bitat, being found at some depth among the fine shingle on the sea-beach. It is taken also in similar situations in the north of England by Messrs. Hardy and Bold, but is very local. Fam. Bempipirp#, Stephens. Genus Peryphus, Megerle. 4. Peryphus neglectus. Supra viridi-zeneus, thorace cordato angus- tato, utrinque foveolato, angulis posticis acutis: elytris oblongis, paululum depressis, punctato-striatis rufo-piceis, fasciis duabus fere obsoletis rufo-testaceis: antennarum 1, 2, 3 et 4 articulis, pedibusque testaceis. Long. 24 lin. [* See also ‘Annals,’ p. 37, of the present volume.—Ep. | Rev. J. F. Dawson on new species of Coleoptera. 215 Beneath black : head and thorax dark metallic green, shining, the former with a broad frontal impression on each side behind the eyes, back of the head smooth and glabrous: mandibles pitchy : palpi testaceous with the apex pitchy: first, second, third and basal half of the fourth jomts of the antenne red, the rest fuscous black, all the joints (except the second) rather long : thorax convex, heart-shaped, narrow, not much more than half the width of the elytra at the base, which has a deep fovea on each side, hinder angles acute: elytra oblong, rather wide and depressed, the sides somewhat parallel, with the tip gently rounded, coarsely punctate-striate, with two deeper impressions on the third stria; the apex smooth, pitchy red, with two reddish testaceous fasciz more or less obscure and obsolete, sometimes wholly wanting : legs testaceous red. Not unfrequent in the north of England on the banks of the Tyne and Derwent, and mentioned in the ‘ Catalogue of the In- sects of Northumberland and Durham’ as a variety of savatilis by Mr. T. J. Bold, to whom I am indebted for my series. It is however sufficiently distinct from that species ; for independently of the colouring the structure is different, and while the elytra are considerably broader and perhaps less depressed, and the punctured striz not carried to the apex, as they are in sazatilis, at the same time the thorax is smaller, narrower in front and more convex. Dr. Schaum, whose attention I called to the species, after a careful examination and comparison of the specimens which I had given him with their continental allies, both at Paris and Brussels, informed me that it is unknown. Genus Lopha, Megerle. 5. Lopha Clarkii. Supra nigro-picea, thorace subcordato, truncato, utrinque foveolato : elytris oblongo-ovatis, punctato-striatis, punctis sat profundis: antennarum basi, pedibusque testaceis. Long. 13 lin. Beneath shining black, above pitchy black, head with two shghtly flexuous striz, between which is an elevated ridge, on each side behind the eyes somewhat approximating in front - mandibles pitchy red, palpi pitchy black, basal joint of the an- tennze wholly and base of some of the following ones pale red : thorax oblong heart-shaped, truncate before and behind, disc convex, transversely wrinkled, with the sides dilated and rounded before the middle, then narrowed, but leaving the base suffi- ciently broad, which hasa large rugged fovea on each side, hinder angles acute : elytra oblong-ovate, wide, convex, deeply punctate- striate, the punctured strie abbreviated before the apex, which with the sides is smooth, and has an obsolete blood-red spot near the outer margins: legs entirely red. In its general struc- 216 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. ture and in the deep punctures on the elytra it is alhed to Man- nerheimii, but is a larger and more robust insect; the thorax especially is much larger and broader at its basis. I captured three specimens near Dorchester in May 1848, a pair of which I gave to Dr. Schaum, who informed me by letter after his return to Germany, that the species is unknown on the continent. Ramsgate, February 15, 1849. XXIV.—Alge Orientales :—Descriptions of new Species belonging to the genus Sargassum. By R. K. Grevitir, LL.D. &c.* (Continued from p. 109.) [ With a Plate.] WIGHTIANA. 13. Sargassum obovatum (nob.); caule subcompresso ; foliis cauli- nis obovatis, obtusissimis, subintegris vel obcure dentatis ; aliis racemis intermixtis lanceolatis, serratis; vesiculis subellipticis ; receptaculis minutis, oblongis, cylindraceis, in racemis densis, rotundatis, pedunculatis, aggregatis. Hab. in mari Peninsulz Indie Orientalis ; Wight. Root unknown. Plant probably 1-2 feet long, judging from the fragment in my possession, which is apparently a portion of one of the primary branches or divisions of the stem; this is somewhat compressed, as thick as a blackbird’s quill, beset with numerous branches 2-3 inches long, which are bushy with ramuli less than an inch in length on which are found the racemes of fructification. Leaves: those on the stem above an inch long, obovate, quite rounded at the extremity, almost entire or ob- scurely repando-dentate, furnished with a nerve which disappears at some distance from the end; those on the smaller branches often more or less serrated, while those which accompany the fructification are much smaller, linear-lanceolate, and sharply ser- vate. Vesicles attaining the size of a small garden pea, varying in shape from elliptical to spherical, sometimes apiculate, supported on acompressed stalk generally little more than a line in length. Sometimes, however, one of the little lanceolate leaves becomes converted into a vesicle, and the stalk is then proportionally long. Receptacles cylindraceous, oblong, much-divided and lobed, forming a dense, roundish, very shortly pedicellated cluster a line or more in length. Colour very dark red-brown. Substance thick and cartilagimous. * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 11th Jan. 1849. Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. 217 The only specimen—and it is a mere fragment—which I have seen of this Alga was disentangled from some other species. There appears to be a disposition in the leaves towards the ends of the branches to become incurved, but this may not be a per- manent character. 14. Sargassum Wightit (nob.) ; caule compresso, distiche ramoso ; foliis anguste lanceolatis, integerrimis; vesiculis ellipticis, apicu- latis, longe petiolatis, petiolis planis, dilatatis ; receptaculis linea- ribus, compressis, ramosissimis, in racemo amplo subtruncato ageregatis. Wight in herb. no. 12 & 138. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indie Orientalis ; Wight. Root an expanded disc, throwing up several mostly undivided stems from 1 to 2 feet in length, or probably more, giving off branches in a distichous manner, at intervals of half an inch or more; the lower ones are several inches long, becoming gra- dually shorter, and more remote as they approach the summit : the fruit-bearmg ramuli are very short, and, like the rest, di- stichously arranged. Leaves from | to near 2 inches in lencth, narrow- lanceolate, sometimes almost linear-lanceolate, nearly equally attenuated at each extremity, acute, quite entire or obscurely repando-dentate, furnished with a somewhat faint nerve and a few scattered pores. Vesicles about the size of the seed of Lathyrus odoratus, elliptical, apiculate, on long dilated folia- ceous stalks, in young plants arising from the axils of the cau- line leaves ; ‘afterwards accompanying the fructification but spa- ringly, and generally taking the place of a leaf. Receptacles axillary, filiform, compressed, very much divided, the exterior branches the longest, so that the racemes have a cymose or tassel- like appearance. The racemes vary much in size, being dense, and not more than 2 or 3 lines long in some plants; in others half an inch and much more lax. Colour dark, olivaceous, the recep- tacles black when dry. Substance slightly cartilaginous. In some specimens, the branches, besides producing axillary racemes, have the appearance of terminating in a larger raceme, an effect which seems to be produced by the ultimate leaves being converted into receptacles, the whole preserving the truncate and tassel-like outline of the axillary racemes. For this fine and very striking Alga I have reserved the name of the excellent and indefatigable naturalist from whom I received it. It is quite unlike any other species with which I am ac- quainted. 15. Sargassum cervicorne (nob.) ; caule compresso, distiche ramoso ; foliis late lineari-lanceolatis subintegerrimis, superioribus atque in ramis fertilibus brevioribus, lanceolatis, plus minusye dentatis ; 218 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. vesiculis elliptico-sphericis petiolatis, petiolis foliaceis, dilatatis ; receptaculis compressis, valde dentatis, in racemo composito ag- gregaiis. Wight in herb. no. 17. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indiz Orientalis ; Wight. Root a callous disc, throwing up anumber of stems nearly two feet long, compressed, a line or more broad, undivided, giving off branches in a distichous manner, at intervals of from half an inch to an inch or more, 3-6 inches long, spreading, the whole forming a more or less oblong outline. Fruit-bearing ramu/i numerous, an inch long or more at the base of the branches, and dimi- nishing gradually to the extremity. Leaves: those produced from the main stem and especially on young plants often 2 to near 5 inches long, and from a quarter to half an inch in breadth, somewhat obtuse at the apex, either quite entire or obscurely repando-dentate, rarely furnished with a few sharp teeth towards the base. On the branches they are about an inch long, more or less lanceolate, more acute, often sharply toothed ; all furnished with a nerve and pores. Vesicles somewhat elliptical, on young plants nearly as large as a small garden pea, supported on foli- aceous, dilated stalks 2-3 lines long. Sometimes the vesicle is winged and apiculate. Receptacles 1-14 line long, axillary, forming pedunculate, more or less divided racemes, the segments very irregular in shape, compressed, and toothed so as frequently to resemble a deer’s horn. The most remarkable feature in this Alga is the occasional length of the leaves which arise at the base of the primary branches, and which cause them to resemble the fronds of some of the Lycopodoid Polypodia. This is most conspicuous in a rather early stage of growth. The species however is liable, I suspect, to considerable variation ; and even on the same indivi- dual leaves may be seen almost, if not quite entire, while others are decidedly and sharply toothed. The latter occur chiefly in the upper part of the plant, and towards the ends of the branches. The description and figure I have given must be regarded as pro- visional, for if my apprehensions be well-founded, a more exten- sive series of specimens will be required before a panies cha- racter can be drawn up. EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. Sargassum obovatum. . Termination of a branch. . Cauline leaf. . Leaves accompanying the receptacles. . A raceme and leaf from the end of a branch. . Vesicles. 4 magnified. | arp Ob . My. G. H. K. Thwaites on the Gonidia of Lichens. 219 Sargassum Wightii. Fig. 1. Portion of a branch. — 2, 2. Leaves and vesicles from a young specimen. — 3. Raceme of fructification as sometimes seen terminating the branches. — 4. Portion of a raceme in its more compact form, — 5. Portion of do. as seen in fig. 3. — 6. Vesicle. -4 & 5 magnified. Sargassum cervicorne. Fig. 1. One of the fertile ramuli, and leaf given off at the base of a branch. — 2. Leaf from a young plant with vesicles. — 3. Do. from towards the upper part of same plant. — 4. Vesicles. — 5. Receptacles as they are developed on one specimen, — 6. Do. The last magnified. XXV.—On the Gonidia of Lichens. By G. H. K. Tuwaires, Lecturer on Botany and Vegetable Physiology at the Bristol Medical School. [With a Plate. ] THERE appears to have been much uncertainty felt by those who have devoted their attention to the study of the Lichens, as to the real character of those spherical or subspherical green bodies which are characteristic of true Lichens, and to which the name of gonidia has been given, from the circumstance of their capa- bility of becoming developed into new plants when separated from the parent structure. Every one who has examined care- fully the thallus of a Lichen under a tolerably high power of the microscope, must have been struck by the peculiar appearance of the gonidia, as compared with ordinary cellular structure :—the frequent irregularity in their form—their want of correspondence in size—their slight attachment to each other, or to the filamen- tous tissue surrounding them, and their aggregation in certain parts of the structure—must have taken the attention of any observer who has been much accustomed to the examination of vegetable structures. These peculiarities indeed gave rise to a strong desire on my part to ascertain the real character of gonidia, and after examining a great number of species, both of true Lichens and of the genus Collema, and plants allied to it, I am able with confidence to state what is the true character of gonidia. It is pretty generally known that the thallus of Collema consists of a number of moniliform filaments, and also of delicate anasto- mosing cylindrical filaments immersed in a more or less firm ge- latine. When examined more carefully the structure is found to consist of numerous Nostoc-like vesicles closely cohering, and among which ramify the anastomosing filaments. The cellular 220 Mr. G. H.K. Thwaites on the Gonidia of Lichens. cuticle which imvests the thallus of some species of Collema, or rather of Leptogium, Fr., is a modification only of the anasto- mosing filaments, as can be proved from the structure of some allied plants. What has just been stated may be considered a description of the ordinary structure of Collema and Leptogium, but im Collema nigrum we find each frond corresponding to a single nostoc-vesi- cle, which becomes invested with a cellular cuticle, and has ex- ternal to this the characteristic anastomosing filaments, which, with those of other similar fronds, go to form the filamentous substratum or kind of thallus upon which the fronds of this spe- cles are situated. In the true Lichens is to be traced a very similar structure, only that imstead of nostoc-vesicles we find groups of cells very nearly resembling those of the genus Pleu- rococcus, Meneghini, and around these cells, which increase in number by continual subdivision, anastomosing filaments or mo- difications of them become developed, just as takes place in Col- lema nigrum; mdeed so great is the resemblance between the small fronds of that species and a state I have found of Biatora vernalis, as to have at first made me suppose they were imme- diately allied to each other. From the above then it is clear, that the gonidia of a Lichen are the analogues as regards their functions of the nostoc-vesicles of Collema, and this view enables us to understand what pre- viously appeared an anomalous character in these organs. The gonidia are in fact the essential part of the whole structure, and can scarcely be considered as gemme, except when under certain circumstances they put on that character, just as ordinary cells do in other plants. The other elements of the Lichen-thallus may without difficulty be believed to represent modifications of the anastomosing fila- ments of Collema, which no doubt they are. It is thus shown that between Collema and the true Lichens there subsists a close though not an immediate affinity, the essential part of the former being represented by the genus Nostoc, and of the latter by the genus Pleurococcus. There are other plants bearing considerable external resem- blance to those we have been describing, but which are repre- sented, as respects their essential structure, by other genera of the lower Algze. Among such may be mentioned Synalissa vul- garis, Fr., first gathered in this country by Mr. Borrer, who found it growing upon St. Vincent’s Rocks : externally this little plant much resembles a Collema, but an examination of its imternal substance under the microscope exhibits to us a structure very hike that of the genus Coccoch/oris : a number of single cells (or binate, when undergoing subdivision) are scattered throughout s Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites on the Gonidia of Lichens. 221 the gelatinous substance of the plant, and most thickly towards the periphery of the cylindrical branches of the fronds. Each cell is found, upon a careful inspection, to be surrounded by its definite amount of gelatine, and to be situated at the extremity of an ultimate ramification of the numerous somewhat anasto- mosing filaments which pervade the whole mass of the plant (Pl. VIII. A. fig. 2). The genus Paulia, Fée, a species of which (Paulia perforata, Mont. MSS.) has, at the request of Mr. Berke- ley, been kindly sent for my inspection by Dr. Montagne, pos- sesses an internal structure precisely similar in character to that of Synalissa. The asci of Synalissa vulgaris contain numerous perfectly spherical sporidia: I could not detect any apothecia in Dr. Montagne’s specimen of Paulia. The genus Lichina is im- mediately allied to Stigonema (Ephebe, Fr.), and the whole struc- ture is very different from that of Paulia, as I have ascertained from the examination of freshly-gathered specimens of the former recently sent me by Prof. Harvey. Whilst writing-on this subject, I may mention another very interesting plant, which, in the texture of its frond and character of its fructification, exhibits some analogy to Collema. I allude to Mastodia tessellata, Flor. Ant., for a sight of specimens of which I have been indebted to the kindness of Professor Harvey and Mr. Berkeley. The essential structure of this plant is re- presented by the genus Ulva (especially Ulva crispa), but it pos- sesses apothecia containing asci, though the latter organs appear to have escaped the observation of the excellent botanists who described the plant, owing to the sporidia so soon becoming free. We have thus then offered to our view plants which, judging from their external appearance alone, would be arranged together in one undivided group, and even in some cases in the same genus, exhibiting nevertheless totally different types of structure. They are as follows :— 1. The Lichens proper ; 2. Collema, Leptogium, &c. ; 3. Synalissa and Paulia ; 4. Mastodia ; represented respectively, as regards their essential fundamental structure, by the genera Pleurococcus, Nostoc, Coccochloris and Ulva (U. crispa), which are usually placed very near together in a natural arrangement; but the circumstance of their each im- pressing a character, upon being a bond of union, as it were, to plants higher in the scale of vegetation, will doubtless, if well considered, furnish a key to the proper arrangement of species closely allied to and of equally low development with them. It is highly interesting to observe in these lower plants a_ typical character of essential structure binding together nume- 222 Bibliographical Notices. rous species of various forms, and enabling us to distinguish at once in other species resemblances of analogy from those of afli- nity: so true is it that in the smallest natural groups of orga- nized structures the same great principles are to be discovered, when carefully sought for, which exhibit themselves so obviously in the larger divisions of the Kingdom of Nature. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. A. Fig. 1. Portion of a plant of Synalissa vulgaris, Fr., slightly magnified. — 2. Small portion of the internal substance of the frond, showing the arrangement of the cells, and their attachment to the branched filaments. Magnified 270 linear. — 3. Asci and paraphyses of Synalissa vulgaris. Magnified 270 linear. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. Illustrations of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part I. January—April. 1848. 8vo. WE hail with hearty welcome this most noble addition to the illus- trated periodical zoological works of our country, and hope that it may meet with that liberal encouragement which will induce Mr. Mitchell, the able Secretary to the Zoological Society, to persevere in its publication. It is really a very handsome work, and indepen- dently of its scientific value, we must say that to the general lover of the works of an allwise Creator, this book must prove singularly pleasing. There is a very happy selection of subjects—something to please everybody. Mammalia are represented in Galidictis vittata, J. E. Gray, well drawn and lithographed by Mr. B. W.Hawkins. This animal belongs to the same family as the weasels, and is described by Mr. Gray from a specimen in the British Mu- seum, now so rich in its collection of mammalia. Ptilocercus Lowii, J. E. Gray, drawn and lithographed by Mr. Wolf. A very beautiful and singular insectivorous quadruped, organized for an arboreal life by its singular pen-shaped tail, with its two vanes, so suited to balance the little creature ; it was discovered by Mr. Hugh Low, Colonial Secretary, Borneo, in the woods of that island; we hope the enterprising Secretary of the Zoological Society may suc- ceed in getting from Bornev live specimens of this and other zoolo- gical productions of the Indian Archipelago. Of Birds there are figured Coracopsis ? personata, G. R. Gray, a fine new species of Parrot, now in the noble collection of the Earl of Derby, President of the Zoological Society ; it is figured by Mr. B. W. Hawkins.—Trochilus (Heliangelus) Mavors, Gould. Mr. Richter has figured this and the next plate (our favourite) of these ‘‘ children or messengers of the sun,’ assome one has pleasingly named the Humming-bird,—Trochilus (Helianthea) Eos, Gould, a most gorgeous bird, and most admirably Bibliographical Notices. 223 figured and coloured : if Gould’s forthcoming work on the Trochilide is to have all the figures of a similar character and execution to this, we can assure him of almost certain encouragement. Of Annulosa, Insecta, Mr. Hewitson figures and describes a most beautiful species of But- terfly found by Mr. Charles Empson of Bath in South America; it is the Agrias Aldon; this figure is coloured in a most masterly way, and to the artist must prove valuable as showing the arrangement, harmony and contrast of colour, which are exhibited in insects, on birds and on shells, in particular, in a way which often surprises artists not accustomed to look to these objects. Mr. Hewitson’s ficures of the eggs of British birds and his illustrations of Doubleday and Hewitson’s Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera are well known. Of Annulosa, Crustacea, Mr. Gray figures two new species of Cirripeds, Scalpellum ornatum and Anatifa ovalis, while figures by Mr. William Wing of the Lithodes (Echinocerus) cibarius, White, a singular rough edible species of crab from the Columbia River, in the collection of the British Mu- seum, are given in a most commendable way on stone ;—Mr. Wing bids fair to distinguish himself as a draughtsman of Crustacea, In- sects, and Radiata. Of Radiata Mr. J. E. Gray figures Sarcoptilus grandis, a new genus and species in the collection of the British Museum ; it is a singularly interest- ing form of Radiata. We have before us proofs of the plates that are to appear in Part II., and can only say they keep up amply the good character of Part I. Mr. Gray’s new species of Monkey, Cercopithecus Pluto, figured most graphically by Mr. Wolf. Mr. Angas’s new South African Antelope, described by Mr. Gray and named Tragelaphus Angasii, is shown in two excellent plates drawn by Mr. B. Waterhouse Hawkins ; it is a most lovely animal ; the male, female and young are represented. Of Birds, the Podica personata, G. R. Gray, one of the Finfoot tribe, is figured by Mr. Wolf, and also a new Parrot, the Pszttacus Ruppellii. Of Insects, Mr. Hewitson figures the new Butterfly (Corades Enyo), while Mr. Doubleday’s interesting new Australian Moth is figured with its fine larva, which will form a valuable addition to our know- ledge of the history of Australian Lepidoptera. Mr. Wm. Wing has drawn and lithographed this plate. The price of these illustrations can only cover the expenses of pub- lication. We can most sincerely recommend the work to our readers, scientific and non-scientific ; as plates of beautiful objects, admirably lithographed and most accurately coloured, they merit every praise ; as coloured prints for albums most of them would be sought after, if sold singly, at three times the price asked for them. ‘They are good and cheap—rare qualities in combination. 224 Zoological Society. PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. March 28, 1848.—Wm. Yarreil, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. The following papers were communicated to the Meeting :— 1. DescrIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF BUTTERFLY, OF THE GENUS Acrias. By W. C. Hewitson, M.E.S. ere. Genus Acrias, Boisd. MSS. Head rather broad, clothed with hair; eyes nearly round or slightly oval, prominent ; maxillz rather longer than the thorax ; labial palpi rather widely separated, ascending, thickly clothed with scales, which in front are long; basal joint curved, very short, second more than twice the length of the first; third short, pomted. Antenne elon- gate, about three-fourths the length of the body, gradually thicken- ing from the base to the apex. Thorax large, elongate-ovate, truncate posteriorly, hairy. Anterior wings subtriangular, the anterior margin rounded, about one-half longer than the outer, which is nearly straight or slightly sinuate ; the inner margin rather longer than the outer, straight. Costal nervure stout, extending beyond the middle of the costa; subcostal nervure throwing off its first nervule about the middle, the second a short distance before the end of the cell, the third at some distance beyond the cell, the fourth rather more remote from the third than that is from the fourth. Third subcostal nervule terminating at the apex; fourth running close to the third until near the apex, then bent downwards and reaching the outer margin about half-way be- tween the apex and the termination of the fifth subcostal nervule ; upper disco-cellular nervule very short, middle above twice the length of the upper, lower nearly twice the length of the two other com- bined; third median nervule considerably curved. Posterior wings obovate ; the fold for the reception of the body ample, anterior mar- gin rounded, outer slightly dentate, sinuate; precostal nervure simple; cell closed by a slight disco-cellular nervule. Anterior feet of the female small, the femur and tibia about of equal length, the tarsus short, four-jointed, the basal joint longer than the rest combined, which are all short, transverse, and nearly equal. Middle and posterior feet stout, rather short ; the tibize spiny within, the spurs very short; the tarsi spiny at the sides, the first jot spiny below also, equal in length to the rest combined ; claws small, curved ; pulvillus large. Abdomen short, tapering. Aerias Aipon. Ag. alis anticis supra lete chermesinis, apice mar- gineque interno nigro, posticis supra nigris plagd magnd, cyaned, subtis fuscescentibus, ocellis septem asia co nigris, albo pupillatis. Exp. alar. 3 unc. 9 lin., vel 95 millim. Hab. Nueva Granada. Zoological Society. 225 Above, anterior wings rich crimson, the costal nervure and the inner margin fuscous black, the apex broadly and triangularly black, the black colour commencing on the costa opposite the end of the cell, becoming narrower towards the outer angle, where it unites with the fuscous black of the inner margin. Posterior wings black, marked with a large blue discoidal patch, extending nearly to the anal angle. Below, anterior wings with the part corresponding to the crimson of the upper surface much paler than above, the cell with two round black spots ; the black of the apex and inner margin replaced by pale fuscous ; the disco-cellular nervules marked with a fuscous black dash, and the apex crossed by two oblique bands of the same colour. Posterior wings pale fuscescent, with two rounded fuscous spots in the cell ; several scattered liture of the same colour before the middle of the wing, then two transverse bands also fuscous, followed by a series of seven black spots pupilled with white, the last bipupillate, the second spot the largest: between these spots and the margin a third fuscous band. Head, thorax and abdomen black. This beautiful butterfly is I believe unique in my own collection. It was taken by my friend Mr. Empson many years ago in South America, and was one of a very few things—all at that time very rare —which were saved from the shipwreck of a large collection. Mr. E. Doubleday, whose experience gives him great facility, has kindly supplied me with the generic characters. 2. Description oF EcnINOCERUS CIBARIUS, A NEW SPECIES AND SUBGENUS OF CrusTacEA. By Apam Wulite, F.L.S. etc. Amongst the Decapod Crustacea there are several genera of doubt- ful situation which belong to neither of the great divisions Brachyura and Macroura. Professor Milne-Edwards first brought them together as a section, under the name of Anomoura; but, as he remarks, they do not form a very natural group, the principal advantage derived from its formation being the opportunity which it gives the syste- matist to withdraw all the aberrant species from the two very natural sections specified above. Nota year passes but new species are added to this group, and occasionally a new form is found; in course of time these discoveries will serve to link genera which seem at pre- sent to be distant from each other, if at all related. ‘The species described below is close to the genus Lithodes, some of the species of which have considerable resemblance to it. The generic name describes the peculiarity of the spined appendage to the outer an- tenn, while the specific name is given in allusion to its excellence as an article of food. In one of the two specimens in the British Museum, the legs, cara- pace and abdomen are covered with numerous barnacles, and on taking off the old carapace, which had commenced to split, the still coriaceous envelope, which would have formed the new carapace, may be found beneath it. On this are very plainly indicated the crowded warts, the scattered knobs, and lateral projecting spines, which are so prominent on the outer surface of the old carapace. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. in. 15 226 Zoological Society. The different regions of the carapace are also clearly distinguished : the body of this new carapace is coriaceous ; the warts are more cal- careous, and consist for the most part of small irregularly-shaped plates, arranged circularly round a small group of calcareous scales. These groups are of different sizes, from that of the head of a small pin to the space occupied by the top of a tolerably large nail. On a small portion of the carapace, on each side of the middle knob, and in two lines directed towards the front, there are distinct portions of calcareous matter already formed, while on the abdominal plates there are still more extensive calcareous portions formed in the co- rium; the various groups of plates are distinctly visible, most of the scales are perforated, and through the holes in many cases a short hair or bristle protrudes. This new skin is only visible on the cara- pace and on the abdominal plates. Ecuinocekus (LirHOoDES) CIBARIUS. Carapace considerably wider than long, subtriangular, very irre- gular above ; the front sinuated, with a large projecting pointed beak springing from the middle, and armed above with three or four spines arising from one knob; the sinus on each side has three spines, the outer one very large and projecting; edge of the carapace more or less spined all round, the spines on the latero-anterior ridges being sharp, those on the latero-posterior and posterior edges being blunt ; the latero-anterior and latero-postericr edges separated by a deep notch; general surface of carapace closely covered with tubercles, which are perforated, and furnished with bristles springing from the holes; on the stomachal region there is a high conical projection, the sides of which are comparatively smooth; near the base of this on each side is a smooth somewhat oval wart, with an impressed line behind it; on each branchial region a high conical projection, and another behind the middle of a straight line drawn between the branchial tubercles; the posterior edge of the carapace with two rather large tubercles separated by a slight sinus. Chele with the end of the fingers hollowed out somewhat like a spoon, the edges granulated, the hands with numerous large bristly pointed tubercles on the outside, three of these being on the upper edge; the wrist with a large triangular expansion on the inside, which is spined and tubercled above; second, third and fourth pairs of legs nearly as long as the first pair, and very similar in appearance, but not so thick; the third joint from the tarsus flat on the sides ; the upper surface of the legs with large conical bristly tubercles or spines; the spines on the tibial joint arranged in three longitudinal lines ; the tarsus spined, particularly on the lower edge; fifth pair of legs quite concealed within the branchial cavities. Outer antenne with a large appendage at the base; this appendage is smooth below, and has four longitudinal rows of spines on its up- per portion, the lateral rows having the longest spines. Inner antenne situated beneath and to the outside of the eyes; the first joint very thick, particularly at the base, subcylindrical ; second and third joints cylindrical, nearly equal in length, thickest at the tips, Zoological Society. 227 Eyes close together, placed under the frontal spine; the peduncle is much shorter than, and not nearly so thick as, the basal joint of inner antennz; the upper side covered with small spines. Outer jaw-feet resemble those of Lithodes, especially in L. brevipes. Abdomen very wide, rounded at the base, triangular at the end, formed of many plates of different sizes, which are close together; the basal segment is crescent-shaped, and within its sinus are in- cluded the other plates, which are arranged in four longitudinal series ; the outer series narrow, the other three wide; the plates of different sizes and shapes, with two supplemental plates, one on each side of the central row, and at its base; the plates with rough and bristly tubercles ; the first joint of abdomen with two round depressions, the base of each being coriaceous-like, and furnished with only a few small scattered calcareous tubercles; the middle of the hind-edge with four tubercles placed in pairs. Hab. North America, mouth of the Columbia River; Sir George Simpson. In Mus. Brit. 38. DescrIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF TURBO, CHIEFLY FROM THE COLLECTION oF HucuH Cuming, Esa., F.L.S. By Lovety Reeve, F.L.S. ETc. TurBo NATALENSIS. Turb. testd viv imperforatd, orbiculari, de- pressiusculd, anfractibus spiraliter sulcatis, sulcis regulariter concavis latiusculis ; olivaceo-viridescente, rufo radiatim maculatd et punctatd, intis argented ; operculo testaceo, cristato. Hab. Port Natal; Wahlberg. The operculum of this beautiful species is a tufted mass, like that of the T. sarmaticus. Turso saxosus. Turb. testd imperforatd, ovatd, spire suturis sub- profunde impressis ; anfractibus superné concavo-declivibus, medio angulatis, transversim obscure liratis, tuberculis juxta suluras coro- natis, infra nunc muticis, nunc tuberculis bi-tri-seriatim armatis, laminis subtilibus, longitudinaliter obliquis, peculiariter exsculptis ; viridi albimaculatd, intiis argented ; operculo testaceo, crasso. Hab. West Columbia; Cuming. Having observed this species in a private collection, under the name saxosus, in manuscript, I adopt it, though not a very appropriate one, lest it may have been published and escaped my observation. ‘The rows of tubercles are extremely variable, being even more pro- minently developed in specimens of smaller growth than is here re- presented. TurRBo LAMINIFERUS. Turb. testa umbilicatd, ovatd, spire suturis canaliculatis ; anfractibus subtubulosis, spiraliter costatis, costis distantibus, et, cum interstitiis, pulcherrime concentricé laminatis, aperturd rotundd ; viridi, nigro longitudinaliter undatd, intds ar- gented. Hab. Mouth of the Victoria river, New Holland. A very beautifully sculptured species, allied to the 7. Ticaonicus, but perfectly distinguished from it, in being of uniformly smaller size, 15* 228 Zoological Society. more distinctly and remotely ribbed, and in being concentrically frilled throughout with a close succession of delicate lamine. Turso mMurREvus. Turb. testd minutd, suborbiculari, vix umbilicatd, levigatd, politd, albd, roseo nitide maculata. Hab. ? A minute, delicately coloured, porcelain shell. Torso coratuinus. Turb. testd parvd, suborbiculari-ovatd, im- perforatd, conspicue spiraliter sulcatd ; roseo-purpured, intis mar- garitaced. Hab. ? Another interesting small species, of a dull livid rose-purple hue, strongly spirally grooved. | Turxso Trocnuoipes. Turb. testd subpyramidali-ovatd, perforated ; anfractibus spiraliter sulcatis, superne concavis, deinde obsolete nodosis ; luteo-albicante, olivaceo radiatim maculatd, lineolis minu- tissimis aurantio-fuscis, oblique reticulatis. Hab. ? A species of peculiar sculpture and marking, partaking very much of the generic character of Trochus. Turzo pustutatus. Turb. testd ovata, subventricosd, imperforatd, nodis grandibus papillosis undique notatd, aperture fauce argen- ted; albidd, olivaceo-fusco luteoque maculatd. Hab. ? An interesting species covered with swollen nodules ; collected by Sir Edward Belcher during the voyage of the ‘ Sulphur.’ Turzo turcicus. Turb. testd subpyramidali-ovatd, imperforatd, spire suturis excavatis, anfractibus spiraliter squamato-liratis, superné declivibus, acute angulatis, ad angulum erecto-squamatis, aperturd parva, Jutescente, coccineo rufo pulcherrimé radiata. Hab. Philippine Islands; Cuming. A prettily painted species encircled by a diadem of erect scales. Turso pyropus. Turb. testd subdepresso-ovatd, imperforatd, spire suturis simplicibus, anfractibus levibus, striisve spiraliter cingu- latis ; albidd, striis vivide rubris, intis argented. Hab. ? Of a deep blood-red colour, with the margins of the aperture united beyond the columella. Turso cemmatus. Turb. testd subdepresso-ovatd, imperforatd, spire suturis subprofunde canaliculatis, anfractibus nodulis parvis undique gemmatis ; corallo-rufescente, intis argented. Hab. ? Very similar in form to the preceding species, and partaking in some measure of the colour; the spire differs in having the sutures deeply channeled, and the entire surface in being beaded with small papillose nodules. In the former species the margins of the aperture are entire, and it is the strie that are coloured upon a white ground. Turso tucusris. Turb. testd suborbiculari-ovatd, spird depressd, Zoological Society. 229 anfractibus superné declivibus, deinde nodulis papillosis cingulatis, columella concavd ; albidd, epidermide crassa nigricante indutd, columella et aperturd argenteis. Hab. ? Another species collected by Captain Belcher in the ‘ Sulphur,’ not hitherto described. Tvrzo nivosus. Turb. testd oblongo-turbinatd, imperforatd, spird subexsertd, anfractibus spiraliter liratis, liris obtusis, irregulari- bus, duabus prominentibus subsquamosis ; vivideé virescente, fusco hic illic maculata, liris prominentibus et inferioribus fusco niveoque articulatis, intis argented. Hab. Philippine Islands ; Cuming. A prettily painted species, apparently not described before. Turso tumipuLus. Turb. testd ovatd, imperforatd, spird subacu- minatd, anfractu ultimo amplo, tumidiusculo ; anfractibus undique spiraliter liratis, liris angustis, confertis, valdé irregularibus, ob- lique serratis ; lutescente, intense castaneo-nebulatd. Hab. : This species merges into the T. spinosus, but is very remotely con- nected with it. Turso circuxaris. Turb. testd suborbiculari, imperforatd, spird breviusculd, anfractibus superné depressis, liris obtusé nodiferis, alternatim majoribus, cingulatis ; rosaceo-fusco alhogue marmo- ratd, columelld plano-concavd, alba, intis margaritaced. Hab. ? Very nearly allied in form and general aspect to the T. Natalensis, but readily distinguished on comparison. Turso porcatus. Turb. testa orbiculari, spird depressiusculd, su- turis excavatis, subtis concavd, profunde umbilicatd, anjfractibus fortiter spiraliter costatis, costis rotundatis, lird minutd inter- veniente ; viridi, rufo-olivaceo nitide marmoratd, intis argenied. Hab. Point Swan, North Australia; Dring. Allied in form to the T. versicolor and porphyrites, from both of which species it is sufficiently distinguished by its strongly-ribhed growth. : Turso articutatus. Turb. testd ovatd, vix umbilicatd, spird acu- minatd, anfractibus subtubulosis, spiraliter obtuse costatis, costis irregularibus longitudinaliter creberrimé serrato-striatis ; viridi purpureo-nigricante marmoratd et variegatd, intis argented. Hab. E Allied to the T. radiatus in form, but peculiar in its articulated etyle of painting. Turso saponicus. Turb. testd ovatd, imperforatd, tenuiculd, sub- inflatd, anfractibus levibus, spiraliter costatis, costis nunc promi- nentibus, regularibus, nunc planiusculis, valde irregularibus ; spa- diceo-luted, rufo varie tinctd et maculatd, intds argented. Hab, Japan. Like most shells from the Japanese islands, this is of very peculiar 280 Zoological Society. character, and very different from any of the tropical species of the genus. Turso miuitaris. Turb. testd ovatd, imperforatd, tenuiculd, sub- ventricosd, anfractibus levibus, superne declivibus; rufescente albidd, maculis lineisque rufis nitide pictd; columelle margine livido-cinereo, intiis argenteo. Hab. Isle of Annaa (on the reefs) ; Cuming. An interesting species of rather light growth, exhibiting a very distinct and characteristic style of painting. Turso uistrio. Turb. testd subglobosd, tumidd, imperforatd, spire suturis excavato-canaliculatis, spiraliter liratis, liris subtilissime laminiferis, squamatis, squamis fortibus, erectis ; nived, aurantio- Serrugineo late radiata, intis argented. Hab. ? A shell of ventricose growth, strongly scaled, whilst the entire surface is very minutely laminated. Turso Fiuctuatus. Turb. testd transverse ovatd, crassiusculd, subventricosd, imperforatd ; anfractibus levibus, superne rude an- gulatis, ad angulum obsolete nodosis, infra liris plano-obtusis, hic illic feré evanidis cingulatis ; columelld concavd ; olivaced, lineis niveis viridi-umbratis, acuté undatis conspicueé longitudinaliter pictd, inttis argented ; operculo testaceo, spiraliter sulcato, medio subtilissime granuloso, marginem versus multiserrato. Hab. Punta, St. Elena, West Columbia; Cuming. An extremely interesting species, which, though of rare occurrence, has long been known to me by the above name: from whom it re- ceived that appellation, which is very characteristic, I cannot, how- ever, learn. It isa shell of solid growth, somewhat rudely noduled, and obscurely flatly ridged. The ground-colour is that of a livid olive, very conspicuously marked with numerous zigzag lightning-like streaks of bright body-white, shaded with dark green. The operculum is remarkable: testaceous and strongly spirally grooved, the innermost groove is broadly excavated, and the central mass is solid and minutely granulated, whilst the portion without the broad groove is arranged in numerous concentric, finely-serrated lamine. April 11.—William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. The following paper was read to the meeting :— SuprLeMentTARY Nore on THE GREAT CHIMPANZEE (TROGLODYTES Goritua, Savage, Trocu. Savacer, Owen). By PRorrssor Owen, F.R.S. src. Since the communication of my description of the skulls of the great Chimpanzee of the Gaboon district, I have received from an esteemed correspondent, Dr. Wyman, Professor of Anatomy in Har- vard University, United States, and a most accomplished anatomist and physiologist, a copy of his description of the parts of the skeleton of the great Chimpanzee which Dr. Savage had taken with him on Zoological Society. 227 his return to America, together with a preliminary and highly inter. esting sketch of the natural history of the species by its discoverer, who proposes to call it Troglodytes Gorilla, adopting the term used by Hanno in describing the wild men which he discovered on the coast of Africa during his famous voyage”*. Dr. Wyman gives dimensions of the skulls of a male and female Troglodytes Gorilla, with comparative measurements of a character- istic skull of a negro, and those of the Troglodytes niger and Simia satyrus (Sumatran variety, or S. Abelii) from my Memoir in Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. i. p. 3874; and he sums up the following points as showing that from the Troglodytes niger the Trogl. Gorilla “: is readily distinguished— “1. By its greater size; ‘© 2. By the size and form of the supraciliary ridges ; “3. By the existence of the large occipital and interparietal crests in the males, and by rudiments of the same in the females; “4. By the great strength and arched form of the zygomatic arches ; “5. By the form of the anterior and posterior nasal orifices ; “6. By the structure of the infraorbitar canal ; “7. By the existence of an emargination on the posterior part of the hard palate ; ‘8. The incisive alveoli do not project beyond the line of the rest of the face, as in the Chimpanzee and Orang ; “9. The distance between the nasal orifice and the edge of the mcisive alveoli is less than in the Chimpanzee ; ‘10. The ossa nasi are more narrow and compressed superiorly.” The 5th, 7th and 9th are the characters which are most decisively repeated in the Bristol specimens of the skulls of Trogl. Gorilla, and are those that are least ascribable to age or the operation of external circumstances tending to produce a stronger variety of Chimpanzee. The value of the character from size is established by the concurrence of the foregoing more fixed ones. The supraciliary ridges are rela- tively as strongly developed and as prominent in the skull of a female adult Trogl. niger as in that of the Trogl. Gorilla, and they are as angular and rough or uneven in the skull of the adult male Trogl. niger as in that of the adult male Trogl. Gorilla. ‘The male Trogl. niger shows also the median prominence between the orbits above the root of the nose. In six skulls of Troglodytes niger Dr. Wyman found that ‘ the temporal ridges are generally separated from each other by a space varying from half an inch to one or two inches, according to age, but in none of them is to be seen even a rudiment of the interparietal ridge.’ In an adult, but by the condition of the teeth, not old male Trogl. niger, the temporal ridges have met above the oblite- rated suture, and developed the rudiment of an ‘ interparietal ridge,’ which would probably have risen above its rudimental state had the exercise of the large temporal muscles been longer continued. * See the passage cited at p. 13, ‘Falconer’s Translation of the Voyage of Hanno,’ London, 1797. —- : = - hierar 2%2 Zoological Society. wrocesses, ridges and crests dependent upon the stimulus of muscular action for their development, are the seats of most variety, and the least safe or satisfactory osteological marks of specific distinction. In the great males of the Tr. Gorilla even a certain range of variety is presented by the skulls of the four adult males, which we are now able to compare. In the one described by Dr. Wyman the interparietal or sagittal crest is elevated about 14 inch above the skull, and terminates above in a thin and free edge: in the fine male skull figured, and in the older male’s skull, the two temporal ridges, though touching each other at their base, do not coalesce to form a single sagittal crest, but each terminates in a free edge, inclining from its fellow, and neither of them rise to half an inch at their highest part, three inches behind their point of contact. 4. The specific character of the zygomatic arches is best shown by the depth and convex or angular upper contour of the squamosal portion of the arch. 5. Dr. Wyman has well indicated the characteristic forms of the anterior and posterior nares; and the conformity of the four skulls, two males and two females, submitted to his able and scientific scru- tiny, in this important character, with the three skulls which I have described, adds to our confidence in its constancy and value. The observed range of variety does not materially affect the well-marked difference of form in the posterior nares. Dr. Wyman finds in the Tr. niger that ‘‘ the transverse diameter of the orifice exceeds that of the vertical, bet in the Tr. Gorilla the vertical is twice that of the transverse, a condition which results from the elongation downwards of the superior maxillary bones.’ In one skull of an adult female Trog/. niger, in the Bristol Museum, the vertical diameter equals the transverse diameter of the posterior nares, and it exceeds it by about one-half only in the three skulls of the Tr. Gorilla in the same museum. 6. With regard to the sixth character, which was pointed out to Dr. Wyman by Prof. Agassiz, it is stated that “‘in the Chimpanzee the infraorbital canal forms a deep groove, terminating in the spheno- maxillary fissure, its depth remaining uniform to its termination ; but in the Engé-ena (T’rog/. Gorilla) the canal becomes gradually less deep from before backwards, and at the fissure is scarcely obvious.” In the skull of the female Trogl. Gorilla (fig. 2) examined by me, the infraorbital canal is also shorter and shallower than in the skull of a female Trogl. niger, but the varieties observable in the condition of this canal in different individuals of the Trogl. niger are more marked than those above noticed in the skulls of the two species and induce me therefore to attach less importance to this character as a specific one. In two skulls of adult males, e. g. in the College of Surgeons, the infraorbital groove as it passes backwards again be- comes a canal by the meeting, and in one specimen by the coalescence of the two sides of the groove above the canal for an extent of from two to three lines before it enters the spheno-maxillary fissure. Dr. Wyman indeed notices a similar conformation in an adult cranium of the Chimpanzee belonging to Dr. J. C. Warren. Now this is a Miscellaneous. 233 more decided difference from the continuous open groove at the floor of the orbit in the adult female Tr. niger than that groove presents in comparison with the shorter and shallower one in Trogl. Gorilla. I find too that the second character of Trog/. Gorilla pointed out by Prof. Agassiz, —“‘ from the internal walls of the orbits which recede from each other in descending towards the floor, thus leaving a large pyramidal space for the lodgment of the os ethmoides,’’—is so much less marked in the female skull of Tr. Gorilla, as contrasted with that of Tr. niger, as to induce me to view it more in the light of a sexual ‘than a specific modification. The seventh is a good character, and is repeated by each of the skulls of Tr. Gorilla examined by me. All the skulls of Tr. niger also show the backward projecting point, where the emargination exists in Tr. Gorilla. 8. The minor relative projection of the incisive alveoli beyond the line of the rest of the face is as characteristic of the three skulls of Tr. Gorilla now in England as of the four in the United States, and results from the same comparative shortness of the premaxillary hones, between the nasal orifice and the edge of the incisive alveoli. But the ossa nasi, besides being more narrow and compressed supe- riorly, are more prominent at that part in Tr. Goril/a than in Tr. niger, and they are also more expanded and broader inferiorly, and I canno: but regard the most decisive mark of the specific distinction of the Troglodytes Gorilla to be the longer persistence of the maxillo-pre- maxillary sutures, and the evidence thereby given of the peculiar form, development and connexions of the upper portions of the pre- maxillary bones. It is remarkable indeed, since these sutures remain so distinct in the adult female skull (fig. 2) and the younger adult male skull (fig. 1) here described, that no trace of them should have been detected in any of the four skulls taken by Dr. Savage to America, in which Dr. Wyman describes the ossa nasi as being “firmly co-ossified with each other and with the surrounding bones.’ The triangular expanded facial part of the upper end of each pre- maxillary intervening between the nasal and maxillary bones will always serve to distinguish the cranium of an immature Trogl. Goriila from that of a Trogl. niger. MISCELLANEOUS. Note on the Development and Organization of Infusoria :—Gyratory Movements of the Vitellus : Pulsations of the Contractile Vesicle in the Egg. By M. F. Povucuer*. I nave followed out the development of several animalcules : some emerge from the ovum with the form they are destined to present during the whole course of their existence (Kerona, Vorticella); others undergo, in the course of development, very apparent metamorphoses * Communicated by J. T, Arlidge, A.B., M.B. 204 Miscellaneous. (Kolpoda, Dileptus). Owing to the latter circumstance, it has often happened that the young and the adult forms of the same animal- cule have been described as distinct species. It is certain, for in- stance, that the Glaucoma scintillans (Ehr.) is but the foetal or im- perfect condition of the Kolpoda cucullus (Miller). In the ova of Vorticelle, having a diameter of ‘04 of a millimetre, the vitellus clearly manifests gyratory movements, in all respects re- sembling those in the ova of mollusca and other animals. When the young Vorticella is fully developed and on the point of leaving the egg, this gyration is succeeded by movements of another description, viz. by contractions of the entire animalcule, which, as is observed, for example, in the young Lymnee, seems to struggle under the transparent envelope of the egg. In the ova of Vorticelle, the animalcules of which are on the eve of exclusion, I have, in several instances, recognized the existence of the contractile vesicle, and have noted its movements. ‘This vesi- cle was proportionately of less size than in the adult animal, and its pulsations were less frequent. These ova, at this period entirely occupied by the embryo animalcule, presented a diameter of -04 milli- metre, and the contractile vesicle which was situated at about the centre, when of its greatest dimensions, ‘005 of a millimetre. In the Vorticelle there exists a sac, sometimes very evident, on the side opposite the cardiac or contractile vesicle, and extending nearly the whole length of the animal. ‘The interior of this sac pre- sents very distinct molecular movements, which seem clearly owing to the existence of vibratile cilia. At intervals this sac contracts from before backwards, and seems to transport in that direction a mass, distinct from the stomach vesicles which it compresses. This sac is the respiratory organ; and its movements have induced some observers to hazard the opinion of the formation of vacuoli in the substance of the animal, or to admit the existence of a form of circulation of granules, such as is noticed in vegetable cells. From what proceeds, we must regard the contractile vesicle as a cardiac apparatus*. It is seen to manifest itself like the punctum saliens of oviparous embryos. And hence we cannot with Ehrenberg consider it as belonging to the genital, or, with Spallanzani, to the respiratory apparatus. —Comptes Rendus, Jan. 15th, 1849. [If these researches of M. Pouchet be confirmed, an important step in advance has been made in our knowledge of the Infusoria. We can no longer doubt, with M. Dujardin, the existence of ova, and of oviparous reproduction in the true Infusoria or Polygastrica. But until this confirmation be given, such exceedingly delicate observa- tions as those detailed must be received with some reserve; seeing that imagination, and the desire to indicate an analogy with the higher animals, are too apt to interfere with precise investigation in such minute beings. Again, respecting the contractile vesicle said to be observable in * Wiegmann (Archives, 1831) surmised the cardiac nature of this con- tractile vesicle; and Siebold entertains the same idea.—J.1.A. Miscellaneous. 235 the embryo Vorticella, it is stated that its pulsations were less rapid than in the full-formed animalcule ; a circumstance at variance with analogy ; for, in the embryos of higher animals, the contractions of the cardiac vesicle, or punctum saliens, are more frequent than those of the circulating sac in the adult. Moreover, if such a perfect system of organs, presenting a cardiac and a respiratory sac, be ob- servable in the Vorticedla, it must surely elevate that genus consider- ably in the scale of animals, and place it far above the majority of the polygastric Infusoria. And, consequently, if such a complex or- ganism can be shown in the Vorticelle, we are not to attribute a like one to those other Infusoria with which that family is at present asso- ciated ; for the Monads, the Ameebe, &c., are surely but one remove from homogeneous organic matter.—J.'T’. A.] Britisn Museum, ZoorocicaL DeparTMENT.—CoNcHOLOGY. It is suggested that the fields of the tablets on which shells are fastened should be stained with different colours corresponding to the following grand geographical divisions, which may be termed “generic: 1. Europe; 2. Asia and its islands; 3. Africa; 4. Australia; 5. Polynesia; 6. North America; 7. South America. Smaller specific geographical divisions might be indicated by a narrow border of a different colour to each tablet. When the loca- lity may be unknown, the tablet may remain white until further in- formation can be acquired. Such a plan would interfere in no wise with the arrangement of species according to their affinities, while it would facilitate the researches of the student, who could, at a glance, ascertain the country of a particular species, or direct his attention, in rapid succession, to all the denizens of the particular tract regard- ing which he is desirous of gaining information, merely by reference to an index-card showing the colours of the divisions and subdivisions. The specific subdivisions may be increased to any extent desirable by the use of double or treble borders of diverse colours. The above is offered as an improvement on the system in use in some private entomological cabinets of distinguishing indigenous British species by a ticket of a conspicuous colour.—W. H. B. February 24, 1849. Eneuisn Witp Beasts a CentuRY AND A HALF AGO. “ At Enfield, hardly out of the sight of smoke of the capital, was a region of five and twenty miles in circumference which contained only three houses and scarcely any inclosed fields, Deer as free as in an American forest wandered there by thousands. It-is to be remarked, that wild animals of large size were then far more nume- rous than at present. The last wild boars, indeed, which had been preserved for the royal diversion, and had been allowed to ravage the cultivated land with their tusks, had been slaughtered by the exasperated rustics during the license of the civil war. The last wolf that has roamed our island had been slain in Scotland a short time before the close of the reign of Charles the Second. But many 236 Miscellaneous. breeds, now extinct or rare, both of quadrupeds and birds, were still common. ‘The fox, whose life is, in many counties, held almost as sacred as that of a human being, was considered as a mere nuisance. Oliver St. John told the Long Parliament that Strafford was to be regarded, not as a stag or hare, to whom sume law was to be given, but as a fox, who was to be snared by any means, and knocked on the head without pity. This illustration would be by no means a happy one if addressed to country gentlemen of our time: but in St. John’s days there were not seldom great massacres of foxes to which the peasantry thronged with all the dogs that could be mus. tered: traps were set; nets were spread; no quarter was given; and to shoot a female with cub was considered as a feat which merited the gratitude of the neighbourhood. The red deer were then as common in Gloucestershire and Hampshire as they are now among the Gram- pian hills. On one occasion Queen Anne, on her way to Portsmouth, saw a herd of no less than 500. The wild bull with his white mane was still to be found wandering in a few of the southern forests. The badger made his dark and tortuous hole on the side of every hill where the copsewood grew thick. The wild cats were frequently heard by night wailing round the lodges of the rangers of Whittle- bury and Needwood. The yellow-breasted martin was still pursued in Cranbourne Chase for his fur, reputed inferior only to that of the sable. Fen eagles, measuring more than 9 feet between the extre- mities of the wings, preyed on fish along the coast of Norfolk. On all the downs, from the British Channel to Yorkshire, huge bustards strayed in troops of fifty or sixty, and were often hunted with grey- hounds. ‘The marshes of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire were covered during some months of every year by immense clouds of cranes. Some of these races the progress of cultivation has extir- pated. Of others the numbers are so much diminished that men crowd to gaze at a specimen as at a Bengal tiger or a Polar bear.”’-— From Macaulay's History of England. On THALIELLA, A NEW GENUS OF CIRRIPEDES ALLIED TO SCALPELLUM. By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. erc. THALIELLA. Valves 11 ; opercular valves subtriangular ; dorsal elongate, curved; lower dorsal and anterior compressed, with two pairs of lateral valves in the middle of the body above the base. Peduncle with rings of imbricate horny scales. This genus chiefly differs from Scalpellum in the front and hinder lateral pair of valves being each united into a single compressed valve, and in having no middle basal lateral valve. This genus was shown to me by Mr. J. S. Bowerbank, who re- ceived it from Algoa Bay attached to some species of Plumaria. THALIELLA ORNATA. Pale horn-coloured, varied with red spots, or with a single red band on each side; valves horny, subpellucid, radiately striated. On Plumaria, Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope. Presented to the British Museum by J. S. Bowerbank, Esq. Miscellaneous. 237 Stroem (Nym. Saml. Danske, 1788, 295, n. 111, f. 20) described a Lepas testd compressd 7-valvis stipite lamellosd, found on Gorgonia placomus in the North Sea, which is probably allied to this genus.— From the Proceedings of the Zool. Soc. for March 14, 1848. Post-Orrice REGULATIONS. The speedy and cheap transmission of intelligence is of the highest importance for the interests of science. The want of it has been a subject of general complaint, and the editors of scientific journals can but too well appreciate the inconvenience, discourage- ment and loss which it occasions. In the Advertisement prefixt to the eighth volume of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Council regret the difficulty and delay in receiving scientific information. ‘* With other countries,” they observe, “and for larger parcels, the communication is most unsatisfactory. ‘The expenses and extra charges at the En- glish ports are equivalent to a negative upon direct intercourse, even where the freight is prepaid, and the duty trifling. The Post-office charges for pamphlets over-sea are the same as for letters. Until these matters are better regulated, a greater service can scarcely be rendered to scientific bodies than by facilitating the rapid transfer of international communications at a moderate cost.” Our friend Mr. Thompson of Belfast, in communicating to us the letter from Dr. Gould of Boston, U.S., has also directed the atten- tion of our readers to the defective state of our means of communi- cation, at p. 866 of our last volume; and we are glad to find that the hope which we there expressed has in some degree been realized, the subject having at length received attention from the authorities of the Post-office, by whom some important improvements have been introduced. With a view therefore to render these available, we subjoin the following particulars from the Post-office regulations of the most recent date. Periodicals published as pamphlets, and parliamentary proceed- ings, provided they are made up in the same manner as news- papers, in covers open at the sides, so as to admit of examina- tion, are forwarded to the countries mentioned below at the fol- lowing rates, which must be prepaid either in stamps or money. Weighing and not exceeding Bop de Weighing and not exceeding 3 ids Peo as eae et OZSyn, Ome IE QIOZS) a 5 eck ese tl OOZ Sema DOZSeal oy oo ae eee Gall Oy. ee his 1 10 3 eiashis 4 OS |i bi S357. 12 pie Bang ss 5 010) 12 ie 13 re 5 es 6 1 O| 13 - 14 2 4 6 aon S i! aa Neate SPD 15 2 +6 7 oa Ss 8 be: | sagitieg 16 245 Sis 33 oe }-..6 Beyond the weight of 16 ounces, they can only be forwarded at letter rates of postage. * We cannot see the reasonableness of the scale in one particular ; where the charge for 3 ozs. is six times as much as for 2 ozs,—Ep. 238 Miscellaneous. The countries to and from which the above rates are applicable are : Belgium, United States of America”, Bremen, ( via Belgium, France, Prussia ¢ via Holland, Holland, via Hamburg. The rates to which parliamentary proceedings are liable when sent to the colonies, the rates for letters, prices current, &c., to the co- lonies and foreign parts in detail by every route, and numerous other particulars as to the despatch and arrivals of mails, &c. &c., will be found in the ‘ Post-Office Official Monthly Director,’ corrected and published on the Ist of every month by Letts, Son and Steer, 8 Cornhill, price 1s. per single copy, or 8s. per annum. THE TUI, OR PARSON-BIRD. The ‘Dido,’ Capt. Maxwell, from Auckland, New Zealand, has brought home a few valuable curiosities for naturalists, the chief of which is a small black bird, about the size of the English blackbird, called the Tui (the parson-bird of Captain Cook), believed to be the first of the species ever brought to England alive. Many previous attempts have been made to bring this bird to England, but all hitherto have failed.—From the Times. OBITUARY.—Mnr. Epwarp Forster. We have to record the decease of our highly esteemed friend Edward Forster, Esq., F.R.S., the Treasurer and a Vice-President of the Linnzean Society, of which Society also he was one of the oldest Fellows. Mr. Forster died on Wednesday, February the 21st, after a severe attack of cholera of less than two days’ continuance, having previously enjoyed his usual and equable good health up to his 84th year. His strong attachment to his favourite botanical pursuits, and his zeal for the prosperity of the Linnean Society, of whose eminent founder Sir J. E. Smith he had been an intimate and warmly attached friend, require an ampler record than can now be given of one who in every relation of life was truly estimable : Quem licet in sera rapuerunt fata senecta, Et vite saturum sopiit alta quies, Nos tamen hunce, velut immaturo funere raptum, Flemus, et effusis diffluimus lacrymis. Vixisti bene ac beate! Pe See ee ames 9 valente Semper corpore, mente sana, amicis Jucundus, pietate singulari. * The regulations for forwarding periodicals to and from the United States are precisely the same as for the other countries mentioned, but in the case of pamphlets not being periodicals, to and from the United States, the weight is limited to 8 ozs. ; + Periodicals, &c., when sent to Prussia via Belgium, are subject to a Belgian transit rate of 2d, per quarter ounce, in addition to the above rates. In charging works of this description, when more than one copy is under the same band, each copy is weighed and charged separately. Meteorological Observations. 239 Rossra Owent, Bau. This fine Cuttle-fish, hitherto known only as an Irish species, has been lately taken by Mr. Saxby on the coast of the Isle of Wight.— E. Forges. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR JAN. 1849. Chiswick.—January 1. Overcast: hazy. 2. Clear and frosty. 3. Frosty: dry haze: overcast: frosty. 4. Uniformly densely overcast: rain. 5. Drizzly and foggy. 6. Overcast. 7. Overcast: rain at night. 8. Rain. 9, Very fine: slight rain. 10. Cloudy: boisterous: rain. 11. Rain: densely clouded. 12, Frosty : overcast: rain. 13. Densely clouded: rain, 14. Rain. 15, Clear. 16. Fine: rain. 17. Rain: densely overcast: clear. 18. Fine: boisterous at night. 19, 20. Very fine. 21. Very fine: overcast: boisterous. 22. Boisterous : fine : clear and boisterous. 23. Densely clouded; fine. 24. Cloudy: boisterous at night. 25. Densely clouded: boisterous. 26. Rain: exceedingly fine. 27. Slight frost: overcast: rain. 28. eis re 29. Rain: cloudy and cold: frosty at night. 30. Slight fog: drizzly. . Fine: clear and ee at night, Mean temperature of the month’ ......... “yoncnoosdonnctee - 39°°56 Mean temperature of Jan. 1848 ......... Godowinenciereeks) occas «130 “62 Mean temperature of Jan. for the last twenty anges Bootes 36 °40 Average amount of rain in Jan. ........seeeeseeeee nenoates -- 1°59inch. Boston. =e 1. Cloudy. 2—4. Fine. 5, 6. Cloudy. . Fine: rain early a.m. 8. Rain. Fine: raine.m. 10. Cloudy: stormy all ne 11. Cloudy: rain early A.M. on Fine. 13. Rain: rain early a.m. 14. Cloudy: rain early a.m. 15. Fine: rain a.m.ande.m. 16. Foggy. 17—20. Fine. 21. Cloudy. 22— 24, Fine. 25. Cloudy. 26. Vine: rain early a.m. 27. Fine: rainp.m. 28. Fine. 29. Rain: rain a.m. 30. Cloudy: rain a.m.andr.m. 31. Fine. Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire——Jan. 1. Frost moderate. Frost very hard : barometer falling. 3. Frostclear: fine. 4. Frost, but ae 5. Frost: cloudy. 6. Frost: still cloudy. 7. Frost: still more overcast. 8. Thaw: rain: fox: rain again. 9. Frost again: clear a.m.: raine.M. 10, Heavy rain during night: rivers flooded. 11. Frost a.m.: thaw at noon: rain. 12. Soft rain all day. 13. Soft rain: cleared: rain p.m. 14. Gentle frost: cloudy: wind rose. 15. Soft: cloudy. 16. Mild and clear afterrain a.m. 17. Moist a.m. : rain and high wind p.m. 18. Very fine till noon: rained again. me Frost: getting cloudy p.m. 20. Heavy rain and high wind v.m. : thunder. . Storm of wind and rain. 22. Fair, but a storm of wind. 23. Fair a.m.: came on storm, wind and rain, 24. Rain nearly all day: wind high. 25. Fair and keen a.m.: wet p.M.: high wind. 26. Fair a.m.: rainey.mM. 27. Snow: rain: wind high, 28. Frost: clear: dull y.m. 29. Frost and snow: thaw and rain. 30, Frost mode- rate. $1. Thaw and showery. Mean temperature of the month ............:sssesesssseeeee «- 36°35 Mean temperature of Jan. 1848 .........sscscesnssesceessenes 33 ‘80 Mean temperature of Jan, for the last twenty-five years . 34 -90 UAE secs tek iewewe semen Saran dita sidache See oPalemerchs Wed comaemaehedtes s +s» 3°70 inches, VAM ADA OA OP eats oetistasic ce stom ive nateam ene cae cia oe cie'e 2°34 Average amount of rain in Jan. for the last ‘twenty years! 2°60) Sandwick Manse, Orkney.—Jan. 1. Cloudy. 2. Bright: cloudy. 3. Cloudy. 4. Cloudy: frost: snow-showers. 5. Bright: cloudy. 6. Snow. 7. Thaw: clear. 8. Rain: showers. 9. Showers: cloudy. 10. Rain: snow. 11. Snow, 12. Rain: showers, 13. Showers. 14. Showers : sleet-showers. 15. Showers. 16. Showers: cloudy. 17, 18. Showers. 19. Showers: clear. 20. Cloudy. 21. Rain: showers. 22. Sleet-showers. 23, Sleet-showers: rain. 24, Rain*: sleet-showers: cloudy. 25. Sleet-showers: aurora. 26. Sleet-showers: cloudy 27. Bright: sleet-showers. 28. Sleet-showers: clear. 29, Frost: cloudy. 30. Snow: sleet: showers. 31. Sleet-showers : showers. * From 9 p.m. on 23rd till 2 p.m. on 24th (about 17 hours) 2:08 inches of rain fell. 7 | vG.L OL 1641 1e- os: izes oS. le eeees | 80- | LT. VI. | $0. (oe £Z. ol- SI. | SI. | OZ. 90. | Vz 99. c0- 8I- £0. Go. seeeee | mange £0. 08-0 SI- seeeee Vz- ISLEY iy sere OT, OP-1 feseee et eee eetene "MUU foe | Le) ‘ice| o€ | *yoImpues *AQuyIO 0S-1 weteee Z0- seeeee Lo- eeteee seeeee 60. 80: tz. | So. seetee Cee eee Lo- ie tos eo. nea Gees: oe G0; (00-0 Ol | IT eee ee te twee Lon sal eorae: & EERE a “yorMpues ‘ka uyxtO = I | 8£-6€ 9-181 6.0F loge LL-EE GE-SP O€S.6% | cv ic.¢¢ | gh} £¢ | ¥LE'5.L8 | 6£| 6€| ov! Ve: §ch Gv 0S) 0S) IV) ge! ih! 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[SECOND SERIES.] No. 16. APRIL 1849. XXVI.—WNote on Cystocoleus, a new genus of minute Plants. By G. H. K. Tuwarrss, Lecturer on Botany and Vegetable Phy- siology in the Bristol Medical School. [ With a Plate. ] Havine recently been fortunate enough to meet with good spe- cimens of the Byssus nigra, Eng. Bot., I have been enabled to ascertain very satisfactorily its real structure, about which bo- tanists appear hitherto to have been in much doubt. The struc- ture of this plant is so peculiar as to render necessary its removal from the genus Chroolepus, in which it now stands; and with the sanction of my friend, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, I propose for it the new generic name of Cystocoleus, characterized as follows. Cystocoleus. Plante confervoider, czspitose ; filamentis arti- culatis, cylindricis vel submoniliformibus, plus minusve ra- mosis, vagina cellulosa continua singulatim inclusis. Chroo- lepo affinis. Cystocoleus ebeneus. Fusco-niger, fragilis, parce ramosus. Conferva ebenea, Dillw. t. 101. Byssus nigra, H. B. t. 702! Chroolepus ebenea, dg. Syst. Alg. p. 386; Harvey in Eng. Fl. p- 3881; Manual of British Alga, p. 190. It will be seen by the above generic characters that this plant differs essentially from Chroolepus in having its filaments included in a sheath composed of distinct cells, the membrane of which is of a dark fuscous colour, and thus the internal filament can in most cases be with difficulty observed and examined. Occa- sionally, however, the internal filament, which in structure and character closely resembles the filaments of Chroolepus, protrudes beyond the investing sheath, and may then be seen to consist of oblong cells containing the peculiar reddish oily-looking endo- Amn. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. iit. 16 242 Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites on Cystocoleus. chrome of Chroolepus. The investing sheath is similar in cha- racter to that of Rhizonema interruptum, Eng. Bot. Supp. t. 2954, but the cells composing the latter are not at all opake. Delicate root-like appendages are given off from the sheaths of both spe- cies: indeed the analogy between these two species is curious, where the affinity is not very close. It is interesting to observe in these minute plants a parallel and simultaneous growth of an internal filament and an investing sheath, each in some measure independent of the other and re- presenting separate systems of cellular development. This will assist, I believe, to throw light upon the real structure of the apparently homogeneous gelatinous sheaths with which many of the lower plants are furnished. Professor Harvey has placed provisionally in the genus Chroo- lepus some other minute species of a dark colour and having an external resemblance to the present plant: that excellent bota- nist, however, at the same time remarks that they will probably prove to be fungi. Chroolepus? Arnotti, Harv., for a specimen of which I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Harvey, is considered by Mr. Broome identical with the Torula conglu- tinata of Corda, and in this opinion I quite agree with him. It is properly an Antennaria. The present plant has nothing to do with the genus Helminthosporium, though some species of that genus has evidently been confounded with it by Capt. Carmi- chael and others. Chroolepus and Cystocoleus form with the genus Cenogonium, Ehrenb., a small natural group, which it is difficult to locate in either of the principal divisions of cryptogamic plants. In the structure of their filaments they exhibit an affinity to the Alge, whilst they resemble the Lichens in the kind of situations in which they are found growing. Cenogonium has, moreover, apothecia very like those of a Lichen. Professor Kiitzmg has grouped together the genera Chroolepus, Chantransia and Chlorotylium, constituting of them his family Chantransiee, and arranging them amongst the Algz near the Draparnaldice. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. B. Fig. 1. Filament of Cystocoleus ebeneus, with root-like appendages. Mag- nified 270 linear. — 2. Apex of a filament, in which the development of the investing sheath has been arrested, and exhibiting the internal filament like that of Chroolepus. Magnified 270 linear. — 3. Portions of investing sheath. More highly magnified. Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites on Cocecochloris Brebissonii. 243 XXVII.—Description of Coceochloris Brebissonii, a new species of the Palmellez, in conjugation. By G. H. K. Tuwatrres. [ With a Plate. ] Coccochloris Brebissonii, n. sp. Frons saturate-viridis, gelatinosa, vix cartilaginea, effusa, nec frustulosa: cellulis subspheericis vel rotundato-ellipticis, minutissime granulosis: sporangiis oblongis. C. Brebissonii occurs upon the perpendicular surfaces of wet rocks, forming a gelatinous or slightly cartilaginous coating, se- parating very readily from the surface of the rock. It is of a pale green colour, sometimes slightly reddish. The cells are shortly elliptical with the ends much-rounded, and contain a minutely granulose endochrome of a yellowish green colour. The gela- tinous appendages of the cells cohere to form an apparently homogeneous mass, and are not separately distinguishable as in some species of the genus. The cells when conjugating are at first united by a narrow connecting tube, but this soon enlarges to the width of the cells. The sporangium is of an oblong form and transparent, containing an endochrome somewhat similar to that of the cells, but with the granules much larger. Imme- diately that conjugation of two cells has commenced to take place, their granules of endochrome are observed to have increased in size, and this increase continues until the sporangium is mature. During the formation of the sporangium, the original cell-mem- branes appear to become absorbed, and are not thrown off as in Cylindrocystis Brebissonit. Branched threads similar to those represented in my figure of Palmella botryoides, Grev.*, ramify throughout the gelatinous mass of the present species, but only in one instance have I suc- ceeded in tracing a connexion between them and the cells, owing I suspect to the state of maturity of the plant. By watching the species attentively, I hope to be able to observe the early develop- ment of the plant from the contents of the sporangia. This well-marked species, which is I believe undescribed, I have the greatest pleasure in dedicating to the learned French botanist M. de Brébisson, to whose researches we are indebted for the first discovery of species of Palmellee in a state of con- jugation. EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII. C. Fig. 1. Small portion of Coccochloris Brebissoniz, showing the cells and ramifying threads. — 2. Cells of C. Brebissonii in conjugation. — 3. Mature sporangia. All magnified 270 linear. * Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 2. vol. ii. Pl. X. 16% 244 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. XXVIII.—On some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. By Frepericx M‘Coy, M.G.S. & N.H.S.D. &c. CrinorEA. (Articulata.) Cupressocrinus (Gold.). Ir will be observed in the following descriptions of two species of this genus hitherto only known in the foreign Devonian strata, that I have attributed interscapular plates to its cup as in Pofe- riocrinus, although such are not indicated in the figures or ge- neric characters of Goldfuss. I have however detected them in an authentic specimen of his C. crassus from the Hifel in the Cambridge collection, although not so clearly as in the following species. In the number and position of the plates of the body, Cupressocrinus and Poteriocrinus are identical; and in both, the articulations for the arms extend the entire width of the upper edge of each of the scapule; but there is a striking dif- ference in their form, which seems dependent on the total dis- similarity of their arms ; the cup in the latter genus is elongate- conic, the comparatively narrow scapule giving off arms of mo- derate width, dichotomizing frequently, while in Cupressocrinus the cup is of an extremely wide saucer-like form, and the scapule of inordinate width to give origin to the curiously wide, massive, simple arms which render the genus so remarkable. Cupressocrinus calyx (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Cup very wide, evenly convex, saucer-shaped, three times wider than long ; pelvis small, slightly concave, penta- gonal, of five pentagonal pieces ; alternating with and above which are five large first-costals, their length and width equal to the diameter of pelvis, four pentagonal and one with a very short sixth side ; alternating with, and above those, are five pentagonal scapule, as long as the costals, but the width double the length ; to the short side of the hexagonal costal is obliquely attached a long pentagonal intercostal supporting two very small interscapular plates; scapule very thick, articular surface flat with an articular ridge running its whole width ; all the plates slightly convex and smooth. Width of cup 9 lines. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Cupressocrinus impressus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Cup four times wider than deep; pelvis concealed in a deep circular pit, out of which spring the broad ends of five ovato-lanceolate first-costals, the apex of one of which is trun- Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. 245 cated to support a small elongate interscapular plate, and on its side rests a somewhat larger intercostal plate; scapule about one-third wider than long, pentagonal, the two lower sides concave, and the lower angles very much prolonged to fit between the lanceolate costals ; substance of the joimts very thick, projecting far into the visceral cavity, a strong perfo- rated articular mdge runs across the top of the scapule ; all the plates slightly convex and smooth. Distinguished from the C. calyx by its deeply impressed pelvis and long, lanceolate first-costals. Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derby- shire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) (Semiarticulata.) Poteriocrinus nuciformis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Body subovate, pointed below, constricted above from the upper margins of the scapule being narrower than their lower portion ; pelvic plates very small, ea unknown ; first- costals long, pentagonal, very narrow below, giving a pointed appearance to the lower portion of cup ; second costals large, tumid, subhexagonal, nearly twice the length of the first- costals, a little less wide than long ; scapule pentagonal, about one-third wider below than above, giving a very perceptible, constricted appearance to the upper part “of the cup, articula- tions apparently the whole width of the plate; irregular in- tercostal large, subhexagonal, supporting two small pentagonal interscapulars ; surface smooth. Length of cup 8 lines, greatest diameter (at second costals) 7 lines. This closely resembles the P. Bockschi figured by Geinitz in his ‘Grundriss der Verstemerungskunde,’ t. 23. f. 13, but of which no description or definition has been published. Not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge—two examples.) Poteriocrinus crassimanus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Column small, of thin circular joints ; supracolumnar joint supporting five pentagonal first-costals, slightly wider than long, between and above which rest five pentagonal sca- pule about as long as the costals, but about one-third wider than long, each of which supports one large cuneiform arm- joint, wider than long, from each of which proceed two hands of six joints each, thicker on alternate sides, the last joint cuneiform and supporting two fingers of about thirty-five joints, each wider than long; costal and scapular plates ra- 246 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. diatingly marked at their margins. Length of cup 33 lmes, width 6 lines, length of rays 2 inches. Of the arms visible one has but four joints, one has seven, and the other three visible have six each. This species differs from the P. radiatus (Aust.) by the slighter radiation of the plates, the greater proportional width of the cup, the articulation of the arm- joint extending the full width of the scapule, the latter distinc- tion being very striking as well as the consequent greater strength of the rays. The surface seems obscurely granulose, but is not distinctly preserved. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Hook Head, co. Wex- ford. (Col. University of Cambridge.) (Inarticulata.) Platycrinus vesiculosus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Body spheroidal, depressed ; visceral portion hemi- spherical, deeper than the cup; pelvis pentagonal, small, flat- tened ; scapule small, rotundato-quadrate, one-third wider than long, very thick, gibbous, slightly concave in the centre, lower edge hanging below the pelvis, excavation for the first arm- joints very small, round, marginal, less than one-third the depth of the scapule ; visceral plates very large, irregular, po- lygonal, some of them nearly equalling the scapule in size, they are moderately convex, and each rendered rugged by se- veral small tubercular projections ; mouth lateral, surrounded by small plates. Length of small specimen from pelvis to vertex 6 lines, width 8 lines. The very large, bubble-like tuberculation of the visceral plates and the small, gibbous scapulz give a most peculiar aspect to this species, quite unlike any other I am acquamted with. I find the characters very constant. Not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone near Bakewell, Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Platycrinus diadema (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Body very much depressed, spheroidal (from the base of pelvis to the vertex one-third less than the diameter between the arms) ; pelvis large, depressed, pentagonal, without divi- sional lines; columnar adherence circular, crenated, one-third the diameter of the pelvis, but seated in the bottom of a deep circular excavation three-fourths the diameter of the pelvis; scapule hexagonal, nearly twice as wide above as below, about one-third wider than long, very slightly convex except at the Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. 247 articulation for the arms, which are prominent, very large, broad, and two-thirds the depth of the plate ; interscapular plate large, hexagonal ; visceral plates rather small, hemisphe- rical. Height from pelvis to vertex 1 inch. The very wide, depressed, turban-like form of this species (which I find constant) easily distinguishes it from its congeners. All the plates are even and smooth. Not uncommon in the white decomposing encrinal beds of carboniferous limestone at Cleenish, co. Fermanagh, north of Treland. (Col. University of Cambridge and Royal Dublin Society.) Platycrinus megastylus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Body broad ovate, visceral portion convex, not much elevated ; cup rapidly expanding, conical; pelvis pentagonal, very small, resembling a prominent rim to the very large cir- cular columnar attachment, the diameter of which is three times greater than from its circumference to the edge of the pelvic plate ; scapule shghtly convex, even, nearly twice as wide above as below, little wider than long ; excavations for the arm- plates large, nearly half the depth of the scapule ; capital plates variable in size and number, but large, few, unequal, polygonal, and most of them presenting a large conical protuberance in the centre ; entire surface smooth. Length of body 10 lines, width between the arms 9 lines. This species is excellently figured by Prof. Phillips (Geol. Yorksh.) with a doubtful reference to the P. /evis of Miller. The latter species is, I believe, generally admitted now to be distinct, but having examined specimens agreeing with the above figure, I find the species to which it belongs differs both from that to which Goldfuss and that to which Mr. Austin have referred it, by the comparatively enormous size of the columnar attachment, and the narrow prominent rim to which the rest of the pelvic plate seems reduced. The specimens above described are from the carboniferous limestone of Bolland, where it occurs in company with numbers of the P. pileatus, Gold. (P. antheliontes, Aust.), which it much resembles, but from which it is easily distinguished by the above characters. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Actinocrinus (Amphoracrinus ?) olla (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Inversely pyriform, very gibbous ; arm-bases small, not very prominent ; cup below the arms hemispherical, visce- ral portion above very wide, elevated, cylindrical ; all the plates 248 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. above and below flattened ; pelvis small, flattened, pentagonal, supporting on four of its sides four large hexagonal first-costal plates, about one-third wider than long, and on the fifth side one pentagonal plate; the five regular second costals are scarcely one-third wider than long, smaller than the first-costals and hexagonal, with the two upper lateral sides so short as some- times to make the plates seem quadrangular ; intercostals hex- agonal, longer than the first-costals ; pectoral plates rather large, flat, polygonal ; scapule pentagonal (or occasionally with the upper lateral angles truncated so as to be slightly hepta- gonal), one-third shorter than the first-costals ; interscapulars heptagonal or octagonal, as long as the intercostals ; the sur- face of all the plates marked with minute vermicular wrinkles. Diameter of cup 1 inch 9 hnes. The sculpturing resembles that of the A. (Amphoracrinus) am- phora, from which the species is distinguished by its round inflated pot-like figure, small arm-bases, proportionate length of the costals, Xe. Very common in the Derbyshire carboniferous limestone in company with the Poteriocrinus granulosus. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Actinocrinus (Amphoracrinus) Atlas (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. General figure of body elongate-oval, diameter between the arms little more than half the height of the body ; pelvis pentagonal, of three thick flattened joints ; first-costals small, one pentagonal and five wider heptagonal, the latter nearly twice as wide as long ; second costals as long as the first, but only one-third wider than long, hexagonal or sometimes quadrate (according as the upper lateral angles are entire or slightly truncated) ; scapule short, pentagonal, as wide as the second costals ; zntercostals hexagonal, exceeding the first-costals in length ; arm-bases prominent, and over each is an elongate conical tubercle ; pectoral plates rather large, convex and irre- gularly polygonal ; vertex covered by a very large hemisphe- rical plate, sur rounded by six slightly smaller polygonal ones having a large.conical protuberance m the middle ; mouth lon- gitudinally oval, rather nearer the vertex than the arm-base over the pentagonal first-costal, to which it inclines; all the plates except the large ones of the vertex marked with minute vermicular wrinkles. Length from pelvis to plate on vertex 13 inch, diameter between the arms 10 lines. The enormous size of the visceral portion above the arms (nearly three times the height of the cup) has suggested the spe- cific name for this crmoid, which resembles the A. (Amphoracrinus) Gilbertsont and A. (Amphoracrinus) amphora in its markings, pro- Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. 249 minent tubercles over the arm-bases and great plates on the vertex ; but it differs from those, besides the great size of the visceral portion, very obviously in the greater proportional length and less width of the costals, most remarkably of the second series. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Bolland. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Eucalyptrocrinus polydactylus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. (Small concave pelvis not seen) ; first-costals hexagonal, convex, one-third wider than long, each supporting a quadran- gular second costal, nearly twice as wide as long, its width nearly one-third less than that of the first costal ; on each second costal rests a pentagonal scapular joint, equalling the second costal in width but exceeding it in depth; on each scapula rest two hexagonal first arm-joints nearly equalling the scapulz in width and depth, and joining by their inner margins (so that the in- terbrachial plates cannot rest on the scapulee) ; on each of these rests a smaller hexagonal second arm-joint, from each of which arise two hands of four or five fingers each; between the two second arm-joints of each arm is a small heptagonal inter- brachial plate, its inferior pointed end resting on the two first arm-joints, and its truncated upper end supporting the small lozenge- shaped plate peculiar to this genus ; circumscribed by the first and second costal, scapular, and first arm-plates, are the five large, equal, convex, nine-sided intercostal plates, each supporting on its upper edge a vertical row of three hexagonal interbrachial plates. Diameter of cup about 1+ inch. Besides the differences of proportion in the various plates which may be gathered from the description, this differs from the Hypanthocrinus (Eucalyptrocrinus) decorus (Phil.) and E. ro- saceus (Gold.) in the lateral union of the first arm-joints, and their supporting the interbrachial plates, mstead of the scapule, the scapulze consequently beg pointed above ; also in the plates resting on the intercostal not “being bifid, and most remarkably from all of the genus in the number of fingers, there being but two to each hand in the other species. Rare in the Wenlock limestone of Dudley. (Col. A cast in the University collection at Cambridge.) BLASTOIDEA. Pentremites campanulatus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Bell-shaped, base as wide as the body ; pseudambu- lacra* wide above, tapering to the angles at the base; trans- * T use the word pseudambulacra here to designate those poriferous rows in Pentremites, &e. which resemble ambulacra, but the pores of which are 250 Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. verse suture between the first and second series of supra-basal plates nearly medial; base flattened; surface minutely gra- nulated. Length 3 lines, width 3 lines. If we suppose the lower third abruptly cut off a P. ellipticus, we should have a good idea of this little species, which agreeing with the above in most characters is distinguished by its small size, more tapering ambulacra, greater proportional width and wide base. Rare in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Codaster (M‘Coy), n. g. Etym. coder, tintinnabulum, and aornp, stella. Gen. Char. Cup conical, with the upper part broad, flat, trun- cate ; pelvis deep, conical, of three pieces, one tetragonal and two pentagonal, each having its inner apex notched to form part of the round columnar canal; on the upper edges of these rest five large equal first supra-basal plates which reach to the truncated summit, to which from their mesial gibbosity they give a pentagonal out- e line; in the centre of this superior disc the pyat terminal disc mouth seems situated, and from it five promi- of Codaster. nent, minutely porous pseudambulacra diverge, one to each angle, each being placed on a thick tapering ridge divided by a mesial sulcus ; from the re-entering angles of those ridges four other thick, rapidly tapermg ridges proceed, one to the middle of each of four of the straight sides, each ridge at its thick, oral end shows an obscure impression, probably of the ovarian pores ; the fifth space is without a ridge, being occupied by a large, ovate or lozenge-shaped (? anal) opening ; the depressed, triangular intervening spaces are marked with coarse, rough parallel striz nearly comciding in direction with the pseudambulacral ridges, and converging to the second set of ridges ; the impressed lines between these strize seem punc- tured, the fifth (? posterior) space is without sulcation. These strange and beautiful forms, the ‘hell-stars,’ as they may be called, are obviously allied to Pentremites (taking P. Der- biensis, florealis, oblongus, ellipticus, and such like as the types of the genus), from which they differ m having the small basal plates enormously developed into a conical pelvis, and having the pseudambulacra entirely confined to the capital plates (which here found by MM. Roemer and Yondell (Bulletin de la Soc. Géol. de France for 17th April 1848) to be really the alimentary canals of a double row of little jointed tentacles resembling I imagine those of Pseudocrinites. Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. 254 form a truncated disc) instead of being continued through a slit in the supra-basal plates nearly to their base. On the nature of the peculiar sulcation, represented in the subjoined sketch in four of the interambulacral spaces, I have no remark to offer. In Prof. Forbes’s paper on the British Cystidea in the second volume of the ‘Memoirs of the Geol. Survey,’ p. 529, there is a figure representing “ the projection of the arm-bearing surface of the Pentremites pentagonalis,” which resembles the disc of our genus except in having the posterior interambulacral space sulcated, and with athick mesial ridge like the rest ; I do not suppose that that figure is meant to represent the Platycrinus pentagonalis of Mil- ler, forming the Pentremites id. of G. Sowerby and Phillips, which presents no resemblance of the kind. I only know the following two species, from the carboniferous limestone. Codaster acutus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Pelvic and supra-basal plates of equal length ; pelvis acutely conical, obtusely subtrigonal in section; columnar ad- herence small, round, prominent; surface smooth. Length 6 lines, width of dise 5 lines. Not very uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Bolland. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Codaster trilobatus (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Supra-basal one-third longer than the basal or pelvic plates ; pelvis divided into three tumid lobes which hang be- low the columnar adherence ; surface smooth. Length 7 lines, width of disc 5 lines. Not uncommon in the carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire. (Col. University of Cambridge.) Ord. PeriscHorcHinipa (M‘Coy). Allthe known Echinida—from the spheroidal Echini with the mouth and anus both central, one vertically under the other, to the elongated, symmetrical Spatangi with their mouth and anus at opposite ends of the ventral disc—all agree in having their case made up of twenty vertical rows of plates, ten ambulacral and ten interambulacral. This is not only the most persistent character of the entire group, but the number becomes of extreme interest when, with Agassiz and Valentin, we view the globose test of the sea-urchins as a mere modification of the same parts which we find in a 5-rayed starfish,—an ideal division of the mesial suture con- necting the two rows of plates in each interambulacrum of the former, giving at once the ambulacra, lateral ossicles, and other characters of the latter. The Echinites of the paleozoic rocks however are constructed on an entirely different plan, having three 252 Mr. F.M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata. or more rows of interambulacral plates, instead of two as in those of the newer rocks and existing seas ; as therefore those sea-urchins differ from all of the order Echinida in the great number of rows of plates in the test, usually having an odd number of rows in the interambulacra, and the consequent impossibility of theoretically dividing them at the sutures into five equal parts, I would pro- pose to form a peculiar order for their reception under the above title, indicating the complexity of their structure. I first drew attention to the structural peculiarities of those fossils in 1844 in my ‘ Synopsis of the Carb. Limest. Fossils of Ireland’ (p.171 to 174), where I gave the generic characters of the genus Pale- chinus (proposed in manuscript by my friend Dr. Scouler), and described and figured several species having from three to five rows of plates in the interambulacra. In the same work I stated that the plates of the so-called Cidarites of the carboniferous period being hexagonal was a proof that they too must have had, like the Palechini, more than two rows of interambulacral plates, and being consequently distinct from the newer fossil and recent Cidaris, | mentioned that I had long distinguished them in manuscripts (in the collections at Dublin) under the name of Archeocidaris. In that work I withdrew my own name however in favour of Hchinocrinus, by which M. Agassiz had announced his intention of designating the carboniferous Cidaris Nerii, &e. in his Introduction to the 2nd livr. of his ‘ Monog. des Echinod. Fossiles,’ p. 15: although he did not either define the genus or recognise the aforesaid peculiarities, the name itself seemed to indicate an entirely different affinity, namely with the Cri- noidea, in which group this generic name is placed in Agassiz’s ‘Nomenclator Zoologicus.? I propose to resume now my old name for this genus, Ist, because M. Agassiz neither indicated the affinities nor gave any descriptive notice of the genus Echi- nocrinus, while I have done both for my Archeocidaris ; 2nd, se- veral of the continental geologists have not followed my example in rejecting my own name, but prefer Archeocidaris ; 3rd, in the ‘ Catalogue Raisonné des Echinodermes,’ &c., published by MM. Agassiz and Desor in the ‘ Annales des Se. Nat.’ for November 1846, no mention is made of the genus Echinocrinus, but the species which were to have formed the type of it (Cidaris Nerit, &e.) are given under the new title of Paleocidaris, which of course has no claims for adoption on the score of priority; nor do MM. Agassiz and Desor even there seem aware of the pecu- liarity in form of the interambulacral plates or their abnormal number, although my observations on those pomts are mentioned by M. Verneuil nearly two years before in his ‘ Coup d’ceil général sur la Fanne Paléozoique de Russie,’ prefixed to the second vol. of MM. Murchison, Verneuil, and Keyserling’s great work on Mr. F. M‘Coy on some new Paleozoic Echinodermata, 258 Russia and the Ural Mountains. Under those circumstances, therefore, it seems the most simple and correct course to use the term Archaocidaris for those fossils. The order Perischoechinida may be divided into two families : Ist, Palechinide, having the interambulacral plates crowded with small, subequal, spinigerous tubercles, not perforated, the spines of one form (including Palechinus, Melonites, Owen and Nor- wood, &c.); 2nd, Ar ‘cheocidaride, having the spies and tubercles of two forms and sizes, the primary spines very large, generally muricated, crenulated at the base, and each supported on a large mammillated and perforated primary tubercle surrounded by an elevated ring, never more than one on any plate, generally sur- rounded by a crowd of the small secondary tubercles (including Archeocidaris, M‘Coy, and the followimg). These family divi- sions rest on the same characters as the separation of the true Echimt and the Cidaride among the normally formed Echinida. Perischodomus (M‘Coy), n. g Etym. mwepicyarv, complexus, and ddmua, domus. Gen. Char. Spheroidal, depressed, subpentagonal ; ambulacra narrow, of two rows of small plates, most usually of a trans- oo oo ° TORO te OR Su) (oh (i) ee a\Ne °@ o% ° oS Qo (0 a. Diagram of portion of interambulacrum and ambulacra of Perischodomus, 6. One of the primary and some of the secondary tubercles magnified more highly. c. One of the ovarian plates. versely elongate pentagonal figure, and each pierced by one pair of simple pores; interambulacra wide, of five rows of plates very irregular in size and shape, all the plates covered with small equal granules or secondary tubercles, while the row on each side adjoming the ambulacra alone bear the small, smooth primary spines, one on each, the supporting tubercle being small, mammillated, perforated, but not crenulated, sur- rounded by a double ring and situated not in the centre, but near the ambulacral edge, a little above the middle ; ovarian 254 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. plates pierced each with six foramina; mouth and anus small, both central. This genus is remarkable for the irregularity of form and size of the interambulacral plates, differing in this both from Archeo- cidaris and Palechinus ; from the former it also differs in the greater number of the interambulacral plates being destitute of the mammillated primary tubercle, and by its small size and lateral position on those plates which do bear it ; from Palechinus it differs, besides the above, in the two rows of primary tubercles to each interambulacrum, &c. I at present know but one species. Perischodomus biserialis (M‘Coy). Sp. Char. Diameter (of flattened specimens) about 24 inches, width of ambulacra at middle 3 lines; width of mouth and ovarian circle each about 3 lines; granules on the five rows of irregular interambulacral plates scarcely visible, the two rows of mammillated and perforated primary tubercles bordering the ambulacra very small ; two rows of ambulacral plates, about six or seven occupying the same space as one of the interam- bulacral plates of the middle of the row. Some few of the ambulacral plates are wedge-shaped, pointed towards the interambulacra, as in the sketch. The primary spines, as far as seen, were cylindrical, and smooth. Rare in the lower carboniferous limestone of Hook Head, Wex- ford. (Col. University of Cambridge (anal and genital half), and Dr. Griffith at Dublin (oral half).) XXIX.—Alge Orientales :—Descriptions of new Species belonging to the genus Sargassum. By R. K. Grevitin, LL.D. &c.* [Continued from p. 219.] [ With a Plate. ] 16. Sargassum squarrosum (nob.); caule filiformi, angulato; foliis (parvis) anguste obovatis, obtusis, plus minusve repando-dentatis ; vesiculis subspheericis, brevissime petiolatis ; receptaculis obovatis vel lineari-oblongis, plano-compressis, acute lateque dentatis. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indiz Orientalis ; Wight. Root I have not seen. Stem filiform, angular, a foot to, pro- bably, a foot and a half long, bushy with numerous branches which appear to be generally 2 or 3 inches long. Leaves small, half an inch or, rarely, three-fourths of an inch in length, * Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, February 8, 1849. OL Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. 25 narrow-obovate, rounded at the apex, attenuated at the base into a slender and rather long footstalk, often nearly entire, but more generally repando- or even serrato-dentate, furnished with pores, and a nerve which disappears before reaching the summit. Vesi- cles nearly the size of hempseed, subspherical, supported on stalks scarcely a line long. Receptacles a line or more in length, ax- illary, obovate, or oblong, compressed, the margin and apex fur- nished with broad sharp teeth ; frequently the receptacles are proliferous, the whole forming a very irregularly divided raceme, which is sometimes so twisted and curled as to give it the appear- ance of a cluster of minute proliferous leaves. From the two imperfect specimens which I possess of this plant, I suspect that it is subject to considerable variation, and my figure and description are given chiefly with a view of affording algologists a memorandum for its more accurate investigation. On one of my specimens several of the leaves are converted into vesicles, which are supported on stalks 2 lines long resembling the lower part of the leaf ; these are also winged and apiculate. 17. Sargassum divaricatum (nob.) ; caule angulato ; foliis linearibus, acuminatis, breviter petiolatis, uninervibus, subintegerrimis ; vesi- culis numerosis, sphericis, petiolatis, petiolis planis, dilatatis ; receptaculis cylindraceis, filiformibus, divaricato-dichotomis. Wight in herb. no. 7. Hab. in mari Peninsule Indie Orientalis ; Wight. Root I have not seen. Entire plant probably a foot or more in length. Stem nearly as thick as a crow-quill, giving off spreading branches at short intervals 4 to 6 inches long, which are clothed with numerous short ramuli and leaves, so as to give the whole plant a bushy appearance. Leaves somewhat more than an inch in length, a lme or more broad, more or less acuminate, entire, or rarely obscurely subdentate, shortly petio- late, furnished with a nerve and pores. Vesicles spherical, smaller than hempseed, on little flat dilated petioles about a line long; sometimes they are margined, and occasionally on longer stalks resembling an abbreviated leaf, and apiculate. Receptacles fili- form, cylindraceous, subdichotomously divided, the segments spreading, the whole forming axillary tufts, often 3 or 4 lines in length. Colour reddish brown, that of the receptacles black. Substance cartilaginous. A well-marked species, the receptacles separating it at once from its congeners. When luxuriant the three or four tufts on a ramulus seem to form one mass, and to the naked eye suggest the idea of a little parasitic Gigartina, and is by no means unlike dwarf specimens of Gymnogongrus Griffithsia, Mart. Sometimes the receptacles are less abundant and conspicuous, having fewer 256 Dr. Greville on some new species of Sargassum. divisions, the segments however being often nearly 2 lines long. The leaves bear a considerable resemblance to those of Sargassum bacciferum, but are much more numerous. 18. Sargassum acutifolium (nob.); caule plano-compresso, distiche ramoso ; foliis linearibus utrinque attenuatis, acutissimis, integer- rimis, uninervibus, ad ramulos filiformibus ; vesiculis sparsis, sub- ellipticis, petiolatis, petiolis planis ; receptaculis compressis, lineari- oblongis, ad apicem dentatis. Sargassum acinaria, Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. i. p. 22?? Hab. in mari Peninsule Indie Orientalis ; Wight. Root 1 have not seen. Plant probably 2 or 8 feet long. Stem (or probably primary branch) plano-compressed, a line or more broad, distichously branched; branches about an inch apart, 8-12 inches long, flat like the stem, bearing ramuli 2-3 inches long, at intervals of 4 to + of an inch, which in their turn bear a smaller series upon which the fructification is placed. Leaves, the larger ones at the base of the branches, 2 inches in length, Imear, acuminated at each extremity, entire, furnished with a nerve and a few scattered pores: the rest much smaller, almost filiform, those accompanying the fructification sometimes so slen- der as to be capillary. Vesicles scarcely half the size of hemp- seed, very sparingly developed, somewhat elliptical, on flat slender stalks, 2 lines or more long, mostly produced at the base of the racemes of receptacles. Sometimes a vesicle occurs at the extremity of a leaf. Receptacles minute, axillary, oblong or hnear- oblong, compressed, generally toothed at the apex, forming more or less divided racemes. Colour reddish black. Substance car- tilaginous. It is not without considerable hesitation that I separate this plant from Sargassum acinaria of Agardh. There are however differences, judging from his description, (and in the absence of authenticated specimens,) which seem to be sufficiently decisive. The stem in S. acinaria is said to be angular. In the specimens before me both it and the branches are clearly plano-compressed, and give off the ramifications in a distichous manner. This character alone would remove my plant from the species above mentioned. The receptacles, described simply as cylindraceous in S. acinaria, are in the present plant, when fully deve- loped, more or less compressed, and toothed at the apex. The cauline leaves are not “lanceolate,” being too narrow to be termed even linear-lanceolate; but this is a character so liable to variation that much stress cannot be laid upon it. The racemes of fructification are truly axillary. The vesicles (in the specimens under examination) very few. Sargassum acutifolium is, from the abundance of the narrow leaves (which spread at a considerable angle), and also of the closely approximated tufts of Mr. P. H. Gosse on two new Birds from Jamaica. = 257 receptacles, very bushy in appearance. My specimens are not more than 14 inches long, but evidently indicate a plant 2 or 3 feet in length. EXPLANATION OF PLATE X. Sargassum squarrosum. Fig. 1. A branch. . Leaves. . Vesicles. . Receptacles. The last magnified. | OO 1D Sargassum divaricatum. . One of the ramuli. . Vesicles. Do. - Receptacles. 3 & 4 magnified. | He oo bo Saryassum acutifolium. . A small branch. Do. from a young plant. . Vesicles. . Do. produced at the end of leaves. . A raceme. . A single receptacle. 5 & 6 magnified. | Nop woe XXX.—Descriptions of two new Birds from Jamaica. By Purrre Henry Gosse. Tue former of the two species which I am about to describe was accidentally overlooked in writing my ‘ Birds of Jamaica,’ and the latter has been discovered since the publication of that work. Elana cotta. Length 5+ inches, expanse of wing 8,'5, flexure TO? 2,5,, rictus 34, tarsus ;%,, middle toe =%. Inrides dark ace ; feet dark slate-gray ; beak black. Head blackish ash; crown bril- hant yellow, commonly concealed; back and rump olive; tail blackish with olive edges; wing black; the primaries edged faintly, the secondaries, tertiaries and greater coverts conspicu- ously, with pale yellow; third quill longest. A white stripe, ill-defined, over the eye, meeting on the forehead ; ear-coverts white, with dark tips;,chin, cheeks, throat, and breast white, speckled obscurely with black beneath the eyes; belly, vent, under tail-coverts, and mner surface of wings, delicate pale yellow. This little Tyrant, for want of any obvious peculiarities to di- stinguish it from others of its genus, I have named from the locality where I first met with it, the Cotta-wood, a tangled cop- pice on Grand Vale Mountain, in the parish of St. Elizabeth. I afterwards observed it in other situations, as in the woods around Bluefields, but it does not appear to be anywhere common: nor am I able to say whether it is a permanent resident, or merely a Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. ii. i 258 Mr. P. H. Gosse on two new Birds from Jamaica. winter visitantin Jamaica. Its manners, as far as I have noticed them, resemble those of the other Tyrants; pursuing insects in the air, and retirmg to a prominent twig to eat them. I have observed one attack with much clamour a John-to-whit (Vireo- sylva olivacea), on the wing. A figure of this species will be found in my ‘ Illustrations of the Birds of Jamaica,’ Part xii. Pee 45. Trochilus Maria. ens 4,1, inches; wing from Bonus 254535 rictus rather more than 75; eas 3; middle toe =. Beak (in a dried state) blackish brown above, buff below, with the tip black : irides ?; feet black. Crown dull black, each feather tipped with a spangle of green and bronze, the spangles having a tendency to form longitudinal rows : nape and sides of the neck blackish, beset with spangles less numerous, but larger and more golden than on the crown: back and shoulders of wings richly bronzed with a ruddy golden hue, shghtly tending to green m some lights ; rump and upper tail-coverts more decidedly golden green ; tail black, glossed with golden green, principally towards the tips of the feathers, the uropygials having more of the me- tallic lustre than the rest; wing quills and greater coverts pur- plish black, the innermost coverts and the winglet tipped with golden: throat, breast and belly emerald green, not scaly, the tips of the feathers only being metallic and showing the brownish black bases between them: vent and under tail-coverts black. The specimen appears to be an immature male. This specimen of a species previously unknown to me was obhigingly forwarded to me by my esteemed scientific friend, Richard Hill, Esq. of Spanish-Town, to whom it was sent from the mountains of Manchester. It is near to Polytmus, but dif- fers from it in the inferior length of its beak, and in the colours of the plumage; but being apparently young, it is impossible to say what its adult condition may prove. I am happy however to fortify my own judgment by that of Mr. Gould, who on my showing it to him decidedly pronounced it new. Mr. Hill writes me concerning the specimen : “ It was startled from a nest in which were two young ones, and was obtained by charging some of the blossoms of the mountain-pride (Spa- thelia simplex) on which it was feeding, with minute doses of strychnine. As soon as it sucked from one of the poisoned cha- lices, it fluttered, and fell dead.”,—“ The nest does not differ in structure from those made of the drab-coloured down of the Eriodendron, or of the Ochroma lagopus, with a stucco of lichens.” Mr. Hill had at first proposed to name this species “ brac- teatus,” but afterwards substituted the feminine appellative, which I have pleasure in placing at the head of this article. “ Doubting,” he observes, “ whether bracteatus was sufficiently Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. 259 distinctive, I had meditated calling it Maria, in remembrance of my late talented little niece, who had assisted me so much in my natural history studies, by collecting specimens and getting up facts relating to the instincts and habits of the objects I noted or described. Maria was with me in Manchester when I procured the green-backed swallow (your Hirundo euchrysea), and we visited together in the very district where this new Trochilus was found ; but I hesitated about the adoption of her name, from the impos- sibility of putting it in any other way than as ‘ Trochilus Maria, though 7. Cora and T. Mango might reconcile me to it. [Other examples, as Anna, Sappho, &c., might also be added.] I leave the matter m your hands, but would suggest that the specific soubriquet should be considered undetermined, till fresh specimens be obtained.” A figure of this specimen appears in my ‘Illustrations,’ Part xiii. plate 22. XXXI.—Supplementary Notices regarding the Dodo and its Kindred. Nos. 4,5. By H. E. Stricxianp, M.A., F.G.S. {Continued from p. 1389.] 4. The Dodo applied to Heraldry.—I am indebted to the Rev. Richard Hooper, of St. Stephen’s, Westminster, for obligingly callmg my attention to what may be called the heraldic depart- ment of the Dodo-history. The introduction of such a subject into a scientific journal would require apology were it not certain that many a curious fact of history, both physical and civil, may be disentangled from the quaint devices of armorial pageantry. It now appears that besides the “ human Dodos” referred to by a witty (yet scientific) writer in Blackwood’s Magazine (Jan. 1849, p- 81), a family has existed in modern times, bearmg the syno- nymous name of Dronte, and decorated with a Dodo on their armorial shield. Could we now trace out the whereabouts of this family, we might possibly elicit from their archives some original facts connected with the present matter. All my inquiries about the Dronte family have indeed hitherto been fruitless, but I hope that this notice may induce heraldic students to throw light on the subject. The passage to which I here refer is contained in the ‘Academy of Armory and Blazon’ by Randle Holme, pub- lished at Chester in 1688; book u. ch. 13. p. 289. The Rev. J. Baron of Queen’s College, Oxford, has kindly afforded access to a copy of this rare work in the library of that college, and has enabled Mr. Delamotte to engrave the following facsimile of the heraldic device. This figure seems to have been copied, with a little alteration, from that contained im the rare edition of Bon- Eee 960 Mr. H.E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. tekoe (see ‘ Dodo and its Kindred, p. 63), but the description is evidently taken from Clusius, Exotica, cap. iv. The author ju- diciously points out the discrepancy between the colour of the wings as given by Clusius and Bontius, which is explained by Dr. Hamel (‘ Der Dodo,’ &c. pp. 25, 34) to have arisen from a mistranslation of the original Dutch of Van Neck. It is remarkable that although Holme takes his description from the works of Clusius and Bontius, yet his figure is copied from neither, but is taken from a third, and wholly independent, source. This seems conclusive as to the actual existence of a family bearing these arms ; for had they been Holme’s own in- vention, he would naturally have copied the figure from one of the two works which furnished him with the description. So now to our author. “He beareth Sable a Dodo, or Dronte proper. By the name of Dronte. This exotic bird doth equal a Swan im bigness, and is of some authors termed Gallus Peregrinus and Sygnus Cu- cullatus, a Hooded Swan; yet it is of a far differrent shape. For the head is great, covered (as it were) with a certain mem- brane, resembling a hood. The bill is thick, and long, yellow next the head, the poimt black ; the upper chap is hooked at the end, the lower chap had a blew spot between the yellow and black. It is covered with thin short feathers, and wants wings ; in stead thereof it hath four or five long black feathers ; that the hinder part of the body is round, flat, and fleshy, wherein for the tail were four or five small curled feathers, twirled up together, of an ash colour. The legs thick and short with long sharp pointed toes, yellowish ; claws black. Thighs covered with black feathers, the rest of the body grey. Yet Bontius, lib. 5. chap. 17. in his History of India, describes it to have a great ill-favoured head, covered with a membrane like a hood ; the bill bluish white, the tips of the upper mandable black, the lower yellow, the body is covered with soft grey feathers; the soft feathered wings of a yellowish ash colour ; legs yellowish, and both them and the toes set with broad scales.” 5. Stones in the stomach of birds, indicative of frugivorous habits.—In the ‘ Dodo and its Kindred,’ p. 43, it is stated that Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. 261 ‘stones are only swallowed by frugivorous birds, which require them to triturate their food, and are never found in the gizzards of the Raptores.” Hence it was argued, that the Dodo, which is known to have had stones in its stomach, could have no affinity to Raptorial birds. Dr. G. Dickie of Aberdeen has however called my attention to a passage in Sir J. C. Ross’s Antarctic Expe- dition, which shows that the above generalization, though un- doubtedly true in general, admits, like all rules, of an exception. It is there mentioned (vol. u. p. 159) that stones were usually found in the stomachs of the Aptenodytes Forster, to the amount of two to twenty lbs. weight. This is certainly a remarkable fact m the case of a piscivorous bird, and indicates some pecu- harity m its habits which it would be desirable to clear up. Do any of the fucivorous Fish swallow pebbles to help digestion, and can the Penguin have thus acquired these foreign matters at second hand? But whatever be the cause of this habit in the Penguin, it does not affect the argument as to the remoteness of the Dodo from the Raptorial birds. XXXII.—Contributions to the Botany of South America. By Joun Mrzrs, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. [Continued from p. 146. ] BRACHISTUS. A PARTICULAR group of plants has been before alluded to under this name (ante, p. 144), most of which have been referred to Witheringia by Prof. Kunth, and from which genus I have shown that they differ by having a campanular calyx generally with an almost entire margin, which does not enlarge with the fruit, by a much smaller berry and other characters. They are also di- stinct from Acnistus by the calyx being generally entire on the margin, rarely 5-toothed, and not having the five strong prominent nervures which give to the calyx of the latter genus the appear- ance of an almost pentangular tube: they differ also in the much shorter tube of the corolla, a more rotate border, more dilated stamens arising from a triangular expansion at the base, as in Hebecladus and Saracha; their flowers are considerably less in size, and they have smaller berries, which exhibit a very thin membranaceous dissepiment, not thickened in the middle by the confluence of the placentze, as in Witheringia, Acnistus, Iochroma, Saracha, &c.; the placentz on the contrary, originating from a central line in the middle of the dissepiment, are thin and slender, projecting for a short distance at right angles into the cavity of the cell, and then become furcated, continuing mem- 262 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. branaceous, with numerous seeds attached on each side. The oyarium is also surrounded at its base by a distinct annular disc, and is not seated simply upon a fleshy torus as m dAcnistus. These plants appear to me closely allied to the Physalis arbo- rescens, Willd, which, on account of its arborescent habit and its different form of flower, I propose to separate from that genus and attach to this group. They may thus be made to constitute a distinct genus under the name of Brachistus, from Bpaxictos, brevissimus, on account of the shortness of the tube of their corolla. As Jochroma (which I have made to include Chenesthes) differs from Acnistus principally in the length of the tube of its corolla, so Brachistus on the other hand is not less distinct from that genus on account of the extreme shortness of the tube of the corolla, and its deeply cleft rotate border. This genus will first include all the species of Witheringia of Prof. Kunth (of which I will give below amended characters) with the exception of W. riparia, which from its infundibuliform corolla is evidently an Acnistus, and W. angustifolia, which from its racemose blue flowers and other characters evidently does not belong to this genus, appertaining more probably to the same group as Solanum montanum. For the same reason are excluded the W. crassifolia, Dun., and W. pendula, R. and Sch. The VW. salicifolia, Hook., is a Capraria according to Mr. Bentham, although it offers re- gular pentandrous flowers: it evidently belongs to the genus Xuaresia of R. and P.: the six herbaceous species of Witheringia of Dunal and Sprengel enumerated by Dr. Walpers (Repert. iu. pp. 31, 32), as I have before remarked, appear to me to belong to Solanum. The following I consider to be its generic characters: Bracuistus (gen. nov.).—Calyx parvus, urceolatus, margine integro, vel rarius 4—5-dentato, persistens et non augescens. Corolla subrotata, tubo brevi, imbo 4—5-partito, lobis oblongis acutis, estivatione valvata. Stamina 4-5, erecta ; filamenta imo subdilatata, paulo supra basin corolle adnata; anthere oblongz, submucronulatze, 2-lobze, lobis arcte aduatis margine exteriore dehiscentibus. Ovariwm ovatum, disco annulari imo cinctum, 2-loculare, dissepimento tenui utrinqne in placentam membranaceam bifidam ovuligeram producto, ovulis plurimis. Stylus simplex, longitudine stammum. Stigma clavatum, sub- 2-lobum. Bacca parva, globosa, calyce parvulo suffulta, 2- locularis. Semina compressa, in pulpo aquoso nidulantia, sublenticularia, testa aspero-scrobiculata ; ceetera ignota.—Ar- bores vel frutices Americe Afquinoctialis: folia alterna vel sepius gemina, altero multo minori et heteromorpho, subintegra vel an- gulato-dentata ; flores avillares, fasciculato-congesti, perpauci, vel rarius soliiaru, pedicellis 1-floris, gracilibus, erectis, demum cernuts. Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. 263 1. Brachistus stramonifolius. Witheringia stramonifolia, H. B.K. Nov. Gen. it. 138;—arboreus, ramulis angulatis, pubescentibus ; folus ovatis, acuminatis, ineequaliter cordatis et dentato-angu- latis, hirtellis, geminis, altero dimidio breviore ; floribus fasci- culato-congestis, hirtellis, pedunculis nutantibus, 5-meris, sta- minibus margine pilosis, inclusis ; bacca pisiformi, calycis per- sistentis duplo aera ree We eae The leaves are said to be 4—5 inches long, 2-3 inches broad, on a petiole 1-11 inch: the flowers (fifteen to twenty) are aggregated in each extra-axillary fascicle, the peduncles varying from 6 to 20 lines in length; the corolla, the size of that of Capsicum fru- tescens, has an expanded 5-partite border, the mouth of the short tube being pilose, the filaments are hairy on the margins. The berries are red, globular, 3 lines in diameter, and are supported by their small persistent calyx on slender deflexed peduncles. 2. Brachistus macrophyllus. Witheringia macrophylla, H. B. K. loc. cit. 14;—fruticosus, ramulis subangulatis, tenuissime pube- rulis ; foliis ovato-ellipticis, subacuminatis, subrepandis, glabri- nsenlia, superioribus geminis, altero minore ; floribus plurimis, fasciculato-congestis, petiolo dimidio brevioribus, 4-meris, gla- bris, pedunculis filiformibus cernuis ; corollz tubo brevi, imine 4.-partito, patente, filamentis margine villosis ; bacca minima, calyce parvulo suffulta——Nova Granada. The leaves are stated to be 8 inches long and about 4 inches broad, somewhat smooth, but slightly woolly on the primary nervures, and supported on a petiole 14-15 lines long, which is slender, caniculate and pubescent. The flowers are numerous in each fascicle upon slender, smooth peduncles 4—5 lines long. The calyx is small, almost entire or obsoletely 4-toothed, and quite smooth. The corolla, not larger than that of Solanum nigrum, is of a greenish hue, with a very short tube, a rotate border with four pointed lobes, the mcluded filaments being very short, flat- tened and ciliate on the margins ; the anther lobes are adnate, lanceolate, pointed, erect, and bursting on the margins. The ovarium is small, rounded, smooth, and seated on a glandular disc. The berry is red, not larger than a peppercorn, and sup- ported upon its small calyx. 3. Brachistus ciliatus. Witheringia ciliata, H. B. K. loc. cit. 15. —fruticosus, ramis teretibus, glabris ; foliis oblongis, acutis, basi angustatis, integerrimis, ciliatis, geminis, altero duplo mi- nore; floribus 5-meris, parvis, paucis (1-2), extra-axillaribus, pedunculis capillaceis pubescentibus ; calyce urceolato obsolete dentato, dentibus linearibus pubescente ; corolla glabra, tubo brevi, limbo angulato sub-5-lobo patente, lobis acutis ; bacca 264. Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. elobosa, calyce parvulo suffulta—Nova Granada, in Andibus excelsis. This plant bears very much the appearance of Solanum philly- reoides, Dun. The leaves are smooth, thin and membranaceous, ciliate on the margins, 14 inch or more in length, 7 les broad, on a pubescent petiole 4-5 lines long. The flowers, solitary or binate, are about the size of those of the last species, the very slender peduncles measuring 8—9 lines: the pubescent calyx is almost entire on the margin, with five nearly obsolete erect teeth, the filaments are short, quite smooth and dilated below, the an- thers oblong, obtuse, erect, bursting on the margins. 4. Brachistus mollis. Witheringia mollis, H. B. K. loc. cit. 15. —fruticosus, ramulis teretibus, cano-tomentosis ; folis ovatis utrinque acuminatis, integerrimis, supra pubescentibus, subtus molliter cano-tomentosis, geminis, altero multo minore et dif- formi; floribus 5-meris, extra-axillaribus (2-3-4), pedunculis filiformibus, elongatis, cernuis ; corolle tubo brevi, limbo an- eulato sub-5-lobo, laciniis acutis, stamimibus glabris inclusis ; bacea minima, calyce parvulo suffulta——Caxamarca, Peruvie. The leaves of this species are from 13 to 2 inches long, and 9 to 12 lines broad, on a tomentose petiole 3 lines long. The pe- duncles, from 9 to 11 lines in length, are slender, hairy, depen- dent, but erect in fruit ; the flowers are the size of those of the two former species; the calyx is urceolate, incano-tomentose, with five short lear teeth ; the corolla is hairy outside, has a plicate and a somewhat pentangular limb with acute angles ; the stamens, five or six, are short, smooth and erect; the berry, not larger than a peppercorn, is supported on its very small persist- ent calyx. 5. Brachistus rhomboideus. Witheringia rhomboidea, H. B. K. loc. cit. 15.—fruticosus, ramis teretibus, tomentosis ; folis ovatis, acutiusculis, basi rotundatis et inzequalibus, mteger- rimis, supra molliter pubescentibus, subtus cano-tomentosis, geminis, altero minore ; floribus paucis (4-6), extra-axillaribus, fasciculatis, pedunculis filiformibus petiolo longioribus ; corolla rotata, limbo 5-fido, laciniis acutis, apice hirtellis.—Nova Gra- nada (Quindiu). The branches of this species are said to be somewhat scandent ; the leaves are scarcely 1 inch long, 3 inch broad, upon cano- oF tomentose petioles 2 to 5 lines in length : the peduncles are 4 or 5 lines long, cernuous in flower, erect and 7 to 8 lines long in fruit. The flowers are the size of those of the three foregomg species; the calyx, cano-toméntose, is urceolate, with a nearly entire margin, and five short linear distant teeth: the corolla 1s Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. 265 glabrous, with a rotate 5-fid border, the segments being oblong, acute and hairy at the apex; the filaments are subulate, short and smooth. 6. Brachistus dumetorum. Witheringia dumetorum, H. B. K. loc. cit. 16.—fruticosus, ramulis subangulatis, junioribus tomen- tosis; foliis ovatis, subacuminatis, basi cuneatis, supra hirto- pilosis, subtus hirto-tomentosis et canescentibus, superioribus geminis, aitero minore; floribus geminis aut ternis, extra- axillaribus, pedunculis filiformibus, tomentosis, petiolo multo longioribus ; corolla rotata, limbo 5-fido, lacinus brevibus, acutis, apice hirtis ; stamimibus inclusis, glabris—Nova Gra- nada. The leaves have a somewhat obtusely pointed acuminated apex, and are gradually contracted at base upon a short and caniculate tomentose petiole of 2 lies in length ; they are from 12 to 16 lines long and 6 to 8 lines broad, somewhat coriaceous, with parallel nervures, which with the midrib are prominent beneath. The peduncles are 3 to 5 lines long, filiform and tomentose ; the flowers are the size of those of the preceding species, the calyx of which it also resembles in form ; the corolla is rotate, smooth and plicated ; the filaments are very short, subulate and smooth, 7. Brachistus riparius. Witheringia riparia, H. B. K. loc. cit. 16.—fruticosus, ramulis angulatis, hispido-pilosis ; foliis sub- oblique obovato-oblongis, acuminatis, basi acutis, supra glabris et leete viridibus, subtus in rachin pilosis, geminis, altero multo minore; floribus plurimis, fasciculatis, congestis, extra-axilla- ribus, petiolum subquantibus ; corolle tubo calyce duplo lon- giore, infundibuliformi, limbo 5-partito; bacca spherica.— Nova Granada (Andibus Quindiuensibus, alt. 6300 ped.). This species, from the greater length of its corolla, might be referred to Acnistus, did not the habit of the plant show it to be congeneric with the above-mentioned species described by Prof. Kunth. The larger of the geminate leaves are from 8 to 10 inches long, 2} to 33 inches broad, upon petioles 5 to 8 lines long, caniculate and hispid; the smaller leaves in each pair are only 13 to 3 inches long, upon a much shorter petiole, and they are elliptic or ovate-elliptic, and acute at both ends. The flowers are fasciculated upon distinct peduncles, and are about the size of those of Lycium barbarum. The calyx is urceolate, obsoletely 5-toothed, thin and smooth; the corolla is of a greenish white colour, smooth, the border divided into five equal divisions; the filaments are pilose at base, the anthers oblong, bursting longi- tudinally ; the style is smooth and longer than the stamens. 266 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. 8. Brachistus hebephyllus (n. sp.) ;—fruticosus, ramulis teretibus, elliptico-lanceolatis, attenuato-acuminatis, basi subcuneatis, integris, utrinque molliter incano-pubescentibus ; floribus plu- rimis, parvulis, 4-meris, axillaribus, fasciculatis, pedunculis fili- formibus, petiolo subzequalibus, pilosis; calyce piloso, urceolato, margine integro, ciliato; corolla rotata, lacinis 4, oblongis, acutis, margine ciliatis, tubo brevi, intus pilosulo, stamimibus brevibus, erectis: ovario ovato, disco annulari insito: stylo staminibus superante, subincurvo ; stigmate- clavato ; bacca parva, calyce minimo suffultaa—Nova Granada, v. s. in herb. Hook. (Los Tapios, Quindiu, Goudot, sub nomine “ Witheringia mollis, H. B. K.’) This species, although approaching the Witheringia mollis, H. B. K., is certainly distinct from it in the form and size of its leaves, and its much smaller flowers, which are 4-merous : it has also an entire calyx. The leaves are 3 to 33 inches long, and about 1 or 14 inch broad, upon a petiole from 5 to 9 lines in length ; the flowers, from 6 to 10 or more, are crowded in each axil, the pedicels being 5 lines in flower and 7 lines in fruit, they are pubescent and erect ; the corolla has a short tube with a 4-fid expanded border ; the filaments are gradually dilated to the base, smooth and somewhat pilose at the point of their insertion in the middle of the short tube, which is there pubescent ; the anthers are ovate, cordate, acute, adnate, and terminated by a sharp point ; the style is long, slender and exserted, somewhat incurved, with a small clavate stigma; the ovarium is ovate, and surrounded at the base by an annular fleshy ring; the berry is about the size ofa peppercorn, supported on its smaller persistent withered calyx ; the dissepiment and bifurcate placentae are membranaceous: the seeds were too immature to determine the form of the embryo*. 9. Brachistus oblongifolius (n. sp.) ;—fruticosus, ramulis teneris, teretibus, glabris ; foliis oblongis, utrmque acuminatis, omnino glabris, breviter petiolatis, inferioribus subcoriaceis, rugoso- venosis, superioribus planiusculis, submembranaceis, geminis, altero tertio vel quarto minore, rhomboideo-ovato, breviter pe- tiolatis; floribus pentameris paucis, fasciculatis (2-4), pedun- culis subcernuis, petiolo sequilongis ; calyce urceolato, brevis- sime 5-dentato, glabro ; corolla tubulosa, breviter infundibu- liformi, limbo 5-lobo expanso, laciniis acutis, staminibus vix inclusis, filamentis filiformibus, medio tubi insertis, tubo hine pubescente, aliter intus glabro.—Nova Granada, v. s. in herb. Hook. (Pantano del Moral, Ibague, Goudot.) * A figure of this species with generic details will be given in Plate 36 of the ‘Il!ustr. South Amer. Plants.’ Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. 267 The larger leaves are 5 inches long and 2 inches broad, on a petiole of 4 lines ; the smaller leaves measure 22 inches long and 14 inch broad, on a petiole of 8 lines; the peduncles are from 4 to 6 lines long ; ; the calyx urceolate, 1 Ime long ; the tube of the corolla 3 lines, its segments 2 lines long*. 10. Brachistus dimorphus (n. sp.) ;—fruticosus, ramulis teretibus, glaberrimis ; folus elongato-lanceolatis, apice acuminatissimis, basi oblique in petiolum attenuatis, adultis utrimque glabris, supra ad rachin scabrido-pilosis, margine subciliatis, janioribus sparse pilosis, geminis, difformibus, altero multo minori, ro- tundato-ovato, sessili, basi imzequali, supra glabro, subtus pal- lide fulvescente ; floribus pentameris binis, extra-axillaribus, cernuis, petiolo brevioribus ; calyce urceolato, fere integro, pubescente ; corollz tubo brevissimo, limbo 5-partito, expanso, lobis acutis ; filamentis subulatis, compressis, glabris ; antheris oblongis ; stylo exserto, subincurvo ; stigmate clavato, sub-2- lobo.—Nova Granada, v. s. in herb. Hook. (Los Tapios, Quin- diu, Goudot.) This species is very distinct, its larger leaves being so extremely Eun in form from the ohn: i they are 33-3 inches long, 3 inch wide, on a petiole barely } inch in length, the smaller geminate leaf being 10 lines long and 7 lines broad ; ; ‘the peduncle is scarcely 2 lines, and the corolla 2 lines in length; the calyx is 1 line long and in diameter, submembranaceous, without ner- vures, and with five obsolete teeth on its almost entire margin fF. 11. Brachistus? lanceefolius (n. sp.) ;—ramis ferrugineo-tomen- tosis, dichotomis, ramulis angulatis, divaricatim flexuosis, vix ligneis ; foliis alternis, lanceolatis, utrinque acuminatis, inte- gris, supra parce, subtus denstus fulvo-puberulis, petiolo sub- brevi; floribus e dichotomiis solitariis, vel e turionibus fasci- culatis ; pedunculis 1-4, unifloris, pilosis, apice imcrassato- incuryis ; calyce piloso brevi, urceolato, angulato, margine fere integro, apeoe 5 minimis instructo; corolla nani sub- glabra, ‘limbo 5- lobo, lobis acutis, triangularibus, reflexis, mar- gine floccosis ; staminibus inclusis, erectis, glabris ; stylo apice incrassato, stigmate capitato- -bilobo.—America zequinoctialis, v. s.in herb. Hook. (Loxa, regno Quitensi, Seemann, p. 879.) — (Vita, Peruviee, McLean.) This is a plant very distinct from the others, with very dicho- tomously spreading branches, which have a more medullary and less ligneous substance : there is no indication of fruit in the spe- * This species is represented in Plate 37 A. of the ‘ IIlustr. South Amer. Plants.’ + A drawing of this species is shown in Plate 37 B, of the ‘ Illustr. South Amer. Piants.’ 268 Mr. J. Miers on the genus Brachistus. cimens referred to, but the structure of the flower corresponds with that of all the plants above described. The leaves are 23— 34 inches long, 1-14 inch broad, upon a petiole 4—6 lines in length ; the peduncle measures 3 ‘inch, the calyx 3 eS _ dia- ace : ‘the corolla, including the seaman ed segments, 1s 3 mch diameter. 12. Brachistus Hookerianus (n.sp.);—fruticulosus, ramulis striatis, molliter pilosis, demum glabris ; foliis ovatis, utrinque abrupte acuminatis, imo in petiolum longe decurrentibus, utrinque sparse molliter hirsutis, demum subglabris, margine ciliatis, rachi incrassato venisque pinnatis glabris, geminis, altero miulto minore ; floribus pentameris, parvulis, axillaribus, fasciculato- congestis ; calyce minimo, pubescente, margine integro, den- fits 5, setaceis ; corolla haves: elabra, taba brevi, snbcampa- nulato, limbo rotato, 5-angulato, angulis acutis, pilosulis ; staminibus brevibus, glabris. , v. & in herb. Hook. (Cerro de Lantana, Guayaquil, Jameson, et in horto Kewensi cultus.) This pretty species is remarkable for the abundance and. bril- hancy of its small yellow flowers. Its leaves are 23 inches long, 12 inch broad, with a somewhat winged petiole 5 inch long ; the peduncle measures 7 lines, the calyx is line, with remote setaceous teeth 3 a line in length ; the corolla is 5 lines in diameter. 13. Brachistus diersifolius. Witheringia diversifolia, Klotsch MSS.; Walp. Rep. ii. 29;—suffruticosus, ramis teretibus, sub- glabris, ramulis pubescentibus; foliis ovatis, acutis, basi abrapte attenuatis, utrinque sparsim pubescentibus, plerumque gemi- nis, altero obtusissimo duplo minor ; ; pedunculis axillaribus, solitariis, calyce 5-dentato, corolla lutea, 5-fida.— Mexico. This plant was cultivated in the Botanic Garden of Berlin, from whence the particulars of the above description are proba- bly derived. 14. Brachistus Neesianus. Physalis arborescens, Linn. Sp. Pl. 261 ; Nees ab Esenb. Linn. vi. p. 456 ;—suffruticosus, ramulis angulatis, tomentosis ; foliis alternis, superioribus geminis, ovato-oblongis, acumine obtusiusculo, attenuatis, imeequaliter repando-dentatis, crassiusculis, supra subtiliter, subtus densius tomentosis, pilis canis, stellatis ; floribus paucis (2-3), extra- axillaribus, pendulis ; calyee urceolato, pubescente, 5-fido, den- tibus ovatis, obtusiusculis, canescentibus; corolla rotata, ultra medium 5-fida, laciniis lanceolatis, extus tomentellis; fructu ignoto.— Mexico (Yucatan). This plant has always been referred to Physalis, but doubtfully by Nees, who hardly considered it to belong to that genus, on Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 269 account of its manifestly fruticose habit, and the different struc- ture of its flowers: with Brachistus it appears to correspond suf- ficiently, although nothing is yet known of its fruit. Willdenow considers this plant the same as that figured in Miller’s Dict. tab. 206. Tab. 20*, but Nees holds a contrary opinion (Linn. Joc. cit. p. 441), principally on account of its leaves being opposite ; it is however most likely that its geminate leaves may have been mistaken by Miller as opposite. The leaves are said to be 2 inches long, 1 inch broad, on a petiole 3-3 inch in length; the peduncles are 2-2} lines long, the calyx scarcely 23 lines; the corolla, including the lobes, is 33 lines in length. 15. Brachistus ? Linneanus. Physalis arborescens, Linn. Sp. Pl. 161; Spr. Syst. Veg. 1. 696 ;—caule arborescente ; foliis ova- tis, subangulatis, subtus lanatis ; floribus solitariis.—Mexico. This species is excluded by Nees (Linn. vi. 483) from Physalis, and considered by him as altogether distinct from the foregoing. From the above short character it is impossible to come to any decided opinion on the subject. XX XILI.—The Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. By Ricuarp Spruce. [Continued from p. 106.] Tue abbreviations made use of in this Catalogue are (besides those above-mentioned for the zones of altitude) P. occ., P. ec. and P. or. for Pyrenei occidentales, centrales and orientales, re- spectively ; WM. P. for “ Musci Pyrenaici quos in Pyrenzis cen- tralibus occidentalibusque, necnon in Agro Syrtico, a.p. 1845 —46 decerpsit Richard Spruce. Londini: 1847 ;’ and H. P. for a similar fasciculus of the Hepatice of the Pyrenees, and of the same date. I have made a point of citing the original description of each species, and one good figure of it, where such exists: the few synonyms that are occasionally given have been in most cases ascertained from authentic specimens. As to those localities which I owe to the observations of my friends, I have affixed an autopsial mark (!) to the finder’s name in all cases where I have had the opportunity of examiing his specimens ; and where I have not only done this but have also observed the same species in the very same place, a similar mark * « Physalis foliis ovato-lanceolatis, integerrimis, oppositis, caule fruti- a9 coso. 270 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. of verification is attached also to the locality : see, for an example, the stations mentioned for Hypnum Starkii. Ordo MUSCI. Hemicyclum 1. Pleurocarpi. Tribus 1. Hypnacez. 1. Hypnum, Dill., Linn. Obs. A large proportion of the species of this genus inhabit the Zona montosa superior and the Zona subalpina, in some instances ex- clusively. In Z, they become much more rare, and above the line where forests disappear, Hypna can barely be said to exist. Of the rupestral species, the following were observed only on calcareous rocks or soil: H. abietinum, recognitum, striatulum, murale, crassi- nervium, Vaucheri, Teesdalii, tenellum, rugosum, commutatum, poly- morphum and depressum. Of the other species, several are occa- sionally found on trees, but they all grow with equal facility on rocks or on the ground. § 1. Tamariscina. 1. H. abietinum, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1591; Hedw. Muse. Frond. 4. tuaes MP. 1, Hab. Z,_2 1m rupibus calcareis umbrosis, per Pyrenzeos vulga- tissimum, semper autem sterile. 2. H. recognitum, Hedw. Muse. Frond. 4. p. 92. t. 35. Hab. Z, in Pyr. orientalibus ; W. P. Schimper. 3. H. tamariscinum, Dill.; Hedw. Sp. Muse. t. 67. H. pro- Liferum, Li. Sp. Pl. p. 1590; M. P. 2. Hab. Z)_3 in sylvaticis, passim. § 2. Umsrara. 4. H. splendens, Hedw. Sp. Muse. p. 262. t. 67. Hab. Z,_3 \ocis umbrosis humidiusculis : fertile nusquam vidi. 5. H.umbratum, Ehbrh. Crypt. Exsice. n. 66; Hedw. Sp. Muse. t.67; Sullivant ! Musci Allegh. n. 2; M. P. 3. Hab. Z, mm nemore obscuro juxta cataractam la Cascade du Coeur dict., in valle du Lys P. centr. ; necnon in valle Jéret P. oce. 6. H. Pyrenaicum, Spruce in Muse. P. n. 4: caule procum- bente subdiviso, divisionibus irregulariter pinnatis, ramisque stuppa radiculosa brevi, pallida, pinnato-divisa, obtectis ; foliis pa- tentibus, ovatis (ramorum ovato-lanceolatis) apiculatis acuminu- latisve, margine reflexis, argute et subduplicato-serratis, nervo tenui ultra medium evanescente (rarissime nervis binis) e¢ plicis tribus strieformibus instructis: Hab. in summa zona sylvatica (Z3) montis Crabioules, saxa cau- Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 271 hbus implexis dense obtegens. In Alpibus Helveticis et Tyro- lensibus viget, sec. cel. Schimper. Caulis procumbens, subdivisus, divisiones irregulariter pinnatz vel subbipinnate, ramique crocei, subcurvati, dense foliosi et inter folia radicibus pallidis, decompositis, planis, versus basin 2—4 cellulas latis, obsessi. Folia imbricata, patentia, ovata, apiculata et acuminulata, apice subtorta, concava, margine reflexa, argute et in parte superior subduplicato-serrata ; plicis tribus strieformibus, media nervum de- bilem, seepe ramosum, rarissime duplicem, supra medium evanescen- tem involvente, instructa; e cellulis minoribus areolata, lutescentia : ramulina angustiora, plica media fere obliterata et ex eo nervo mani- festiori. Flores et fructus desiderantur. Ab hoe differt H. umbratum, Ehrh., divisionibus bipinnatis, ramulis gracillimis ; radiculis compressis, latioribus, e 5—6 cellularum seriebus conflatis ; foliis multo minoribus, magis patulis, caulem ramulosque haud velaniibus, pleramque nervis binis instructis. Tas. I. 1. rami pars augm.; 2. folium caulis; 3. ramuli augm. ; 4. apex folii augm. circiter 240ies ; 5. pars stuppe radiculose inter- foliaris pariter aucta. Obs. Although this comes so near H. wmbratum in essential cha- racter, it has yet a very different habit, arising from the less di- vided stems and the much larger leaves, which are imbricated at such an angle as not to allow the stem to appear between them. All the states of H. brevirostre differ from it in the leaves being contracted below the long acumen, and especially in their being prolonged at the base into two semicircular free auricles, which are inflexed and em- brace the stem *; they are also usually squarrose and furnished with two short nerves. H. plicatum, Schleich., is very similar in habit, and has the leaves plicato-striate in the same manner, but the latter are subsecund, with a longer nerve, their margins entire and most widely reflexed at about two-thirds of their length. H. Kamounense, Harv. (Hook. Icones, 1. t. 24. f. 10), an Indian species, seems also to approach it very closely, differing chiefly in the shorter, almost obso- lete nerve, the less sharply toothed margins of the leaves, and their more twisted apices, often describing two spires. § 3. SquaRrRosa. 7. H. brevirostre, Ehrh. Pl. Exsice. n. 85; Schwgr. Suppl. £. 225; M. P, 5. Hab. Z)_2 in umbrosis fere ubique, copiose fructiferum. 8. H. triquetrum, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1593; E. Bot. t. 1622 ; M. P. 7. Hab. Zo_-3 in sylvaticis. 9. H. squarrosum, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1593; Dill. t. 39. £38. Hab. Z)_3 0 sylvis, pascuis, etc., rarissume fructificans. * This has not altogether escaped the notice of Schwaegrichen, who says of H. brevirostre, ‘“ folia cordato-ovata..... angulis baseos lateralibus inflexis,”’ 272 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 10. H. loreum, L. Sp. Pl. p.15938; H. et T.! Muse. Brit. p.181. t; 20; M. Ps. Hab. Z,_» in umbrosis. § 4. Sretyata. 11. H. stellatum,Schreb. FI. Lips. p.92; Schwgr. Suppl. t. 144. Hab. Z, \ocis humidis, haud vulgatum. 12. H. polymorphum, Hedw. Sp. Muse. t. 66. Hab. Z,_3 P. oce. et c. ad rupes calcareas. Jurancon; Ba- gneres-de-Bigorre, &c. In alpinis semper sterile mvenitur. 13. H. Halleri, L. Diss. Muse. p. 34; Hedw. Muse. Frond. 4. t.21; M.P. 58. Hab. Z, P. oce. in regione media montis Pic de Ger, etiam circa Cauterets ; P. c. loco Labassére: rupestre. “In Pyren. jugis de- pressis in planitiem excurrentibus ;” Dufour apud Bridel Br. Un. § 5. Hereroprera. 14. H. dimorphum, Brid. Suppl. Muse. 2. p. 149 ; Grey. Scot. Cr. Fl.t. 160;-M.P. 57. Hab. Zs_3 \ocis umbrosissimis, terrestre; P. oce. circa Caute- vets; P. c. Lac Lehou (Philippe!) : P. or. Mt. Canigou et Port Negre (Arnott !). 15. H. heteropterum, Bruch apud Schwer. (sub Pterogonio) : dioicum ; caule prostrato, diviso, divisionibus subpinnatis ; folis laxe imbricatis, erectiusculis vel subsecundis, obliquis, ovatis, sub- acuminatis, nunc acutis nunc obtusis, margine planis, subserratis, nervo perbrevi nonnunquam furcato instructis, dorso papillosis ; pedicello levi; capsula ovato-oblonga, cernua; operculo rostrato, capsulam vie equante; calyptra dimidiata glabra; peristomio Hypm. Musci Pyrenaici, 56. Pterogonium heteropterum, Bruch in Schwaegr. Suppl. 3. v. 1. t. 2106; via Pterigynandrum h., Brid. Bryol. Univ. 2. p.176. Hypnum catenulatum, H. et T.! Muse. Brit. ed. 2. p. 160. t. 24; Hook. Eng. Flora, 5. P.1. p. 81; non autem Schwer. Suppl. 1. v. 1. p.218; nee Plerigyn. catenulatum, Brid. Muse. Rec. 2. P. 1. p. 64. t.5. f. 4. Hab. Z,_» ad saxa in sylvis Pyrenzeorum centralium, sat fre- quens sed rarissime fructificans. Prope B.-de-Bigorre capsulis onustum legi 17 Octobris, 1845. In Hibernia ad Powerscourt Waterfall, ubi primus omnium beatus Taylor detexit. In An- glize et Scotiz plurimis locis repertum est. In monte Vogeso et Germania occidental, teste Bruch, /. c. Czspites densi, implexi. Caulis prostratus, hic illic radicans, varie divisus; divisiones irregulariter pinnato-ramosz, ramis alternis, ascen- dentibus, plurimo tempore subsecundis, simplicibus, subramosis, ra- rius pinnatis. Folia caulis divisionumque ovato-acuminata, in summo caule acumine szpius valde elongato, acuta, basi decurrentia et e Mr. R. Spruce on the Musct and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 273 marginibus inflexis semi-amplexicaulia; “ aliorum ramorum erec- tiuscula, aliorum secunda” (Schwegr.), laxe et subquadrifarie imbri- cata, alia recta, alia oblique incurva, ovata, ovato-lanceolata et ovato-acuminata, quoad apicem nunc acuta nunc obtusa, margine plana; omnia denticulata, nervo perbrevi quartam folii partem ut plurimum emetiente, nunquam ad medium usque producto, nunc lato et obscuro, nunc ramoso vel e basi ipsa bifurcato, instructa ; cellulis mediocribus, oblongis, prominulis areolata et dorso valde papillosa ; in cespitibus sterilibus seepe pallida, flavescentia, in fertilibus autem fere semper saturate viridia. Florescentia dioica. Caules masculi cum foemineis immixti, lis tenuiores: flores numerosi, alares, ovati, foliis 12 plus minus, ovatis, exterioribus obtusis, internis acuminatis, acu- mine torquato, enerviis, valde concavis, obscure denticulatis, areo- latione laxiori; antheridiis haud copiosis, paraphysatis. Feminei floris folia pericheetialia sat numerosa, externa brevissima, interna elon- gata et flexuoso-acuminata, enervia, subdenticulata, laxe areolata, haud papillosa. Vaginula teres, viridis, apice tamen atro-rubens, archegoniis et paraphysibus numerosis perichetium haud equantibus onusta. Pedicellus semuncialis, levis, rufus. Capsula ovato-oblonga, cernua, e brunneo olivacea. Peristomii externi dentes 16, trabe- culati, linea media exarati, pallidi: ¢ternt membrana carinato-sul- cata, in processus totidem solidos, ciliis binis filiformibus interjectis, ultra medium fissa. Annulus duplex, revolubilis. Operculum e basi conica rostratum, rostro oblique curvato, capsulam fere «equans. Calyptra dimidiata, glabra. Semina congenerum. Ab hoc differt H. dimorphum, Brid., foliis caulis divisionumque pri- mariarum squarrosis ; ramis dense foliosis, foliis arcte appressis ‘‘ unde ramulorum facies teres” (Brid.), /atioribus, obtusioribus, nervis binis tenuioribus et plerumque longioribus, e cellulis brevioribus areolatis, et maxime operculo conico. Obs. I have been thus particular in my description of this disputed moss in the hope of finally settling its name and synonymy. The characteristic figure of Schwaegrichen, though representing a barren specimen, and his description, accurate as far as it goes, place it be- yond a doubt that his Pterogonium heteropterum is the same plant as the Hypnum catenulatum of English authors ; but that it cannot be identical with the H. catenulatum of Schwer. will be obvious from the following considerations. The leaves differ from Schwer.’s descrip- tion of H. catenulatum in being oblique, decurrent at the base and slightly embracing the stem, the margins plane (by no means “‘ stria utrinque marginali brevi,’’ which implies a decidedly reflexed or re- curved margin), papillose and truly denticulate*, the nerve very short, not “ultra medium evanescente.” Besides these discrepancies are the very important ones of a dioicous inflorescence and a decidedly rostrate lid, not ‘‘ conicum brevissimo rostello.” * The authors of ‘ Muse. Brit.,’ for want of examining with sufficient mi- nuteness, supposed that the denticulation of the margins was only apparent, arising from the papiliosity of the surface. + Represented shorter in the ‘ Musc. Brit.’ figure than in my Pyrenzan specimens, and in original ones from the authors. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 18 274 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. Presuming the identity of our plant with the Pterogonium hetero- pterum of Schwaegrichen, and its diversity from the Hypnum catenu- latum of the same author, to be sufficiently established, I have further to remark that the Pterigyn. heteropterum of Brid. l. c. is surely a different plant from that of Schwaegrichen; for it has ‘‘ rami imor- dinate fasciculati,’’ and ‘theca erecta oblonga, omnino Pterigynan- dri,” to which is added “ Inter P. gracile et filiforme intermedium.” These characters point rather to a form of P. filiforme, with which species we find Schwaegrichen identifying it, at the close of his de- scription, in these terms: ‘‘ Hunc muscum propterea pingi cura- veram, ut botanicorum cure commendaretur et fructus completi exquirerentur; sed acceptis nuper a Bridelio speciminibus, illud a Pt. filiformi non differre convictus sum.” He erred, however, in supposing his moss the same as Bridel’s, and consequently a var. of P. filiforme, which may be excused him from the circumstance of his possessing only barren specimens. It still remains to inquire what is the veritable Hypnum catenulatum of Bridel and Schwegr. ; but I fear this question can only be settled by a reference to the herbaria of these authors. The moss pub- lished under that name in Schimper’s ‘ Stirpes Normales,’ &c. agrees with Schwaegrichen’s description in the “ folia obesa et mollia .... stria utrinque marginali brevi,” and in the nerve, &c., but the inflorescence is certainly dioicous, while Schwaegrichen, whom it is difficult to suppose mistaken on this point, states that cf his moss to be monoicous. A moss agreeing perfectly with Schimper’s has been found by Mr. Ibbotson on Pen-y-ghent in Yorkshire, and the Hf. catenulatum of Drummond’s ‘ Musci Americani,’ No. 219, is possibly not specifically distinct. These three mosses are all sterile, and their identification is consequently the more difficult, if not quite impossible. I gathered the same moss in the Pyrenees in numerous stations, extending between the extreme limits of my explorations to the westward and eastward, yet always sterile, which would be inconceivable in a monoicous species distributed over so wide a space. However, rather than propose a new name for it, I am willing for the present to receive it as 7. catenulatum. 16. H. catenulatum, Brid.? Mant. Muse. p. 167; Schwer. ? Suppl. P.2. p.218. “ Leskea Vauchert, Schimp.” M. P. 82. Hab. Zy sup, 1 saxis arborumque radicibus per Pyrenzos occi- dentales et centrales, haud raro cum Leskea attenuata et nervosa sociatum. I gave this moss in ‘ Musci Pyrenaici’ as Leskea Vaucheri, Schimp., from acomparison with specimens under that name in Dr. Montagne’s herb. at Paris; but I have since learnt that M. Schimper really in- tended by Leskea Vaucheri the species mentioned in this catalogue as L. nervosa, and it is therefore not improbable that the tuft I examined contained both species, for they frequently grow intermixed and are quite similar in habit. Very lately I have received from M. Schimper fertile specimens of H. catenulatum; the capsule and operculum are much of the same form as in H. heteropterum, and the processes of Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. 275 the inner peristome are imperforate, not ‘ quatuor lacunis notati,” as described by Schwaegrichen. § 6. SERPENTIA. 17. H. serpens, L. Sp. Pl. p. 1596 ; E. Bot. t. 1037 ; M. P. 60. Hab. Zz in arboribus imis, &c. ; in montibus sequente minus frequens. 18. H. subtile, Hedw. Musc. Frond. 4. t. 9 (sub Leskea) ; M. P. 61. Hab. Z,_» ad truncos vetustos, sat frequens ; rarius ad rupes. Forét de Lhieris ; Vallée de Lutour, &e. 19. H. Sprucii, Bruch in litt. (sub Leskea) ; Spruce in Lond. Journal of Botany, 4. p. 180; M. P. 62. Hypnum confervoides, Drumm. ! Muse. Amer. n. 190 (e# parte): non Bridelii. Hab. Z, P. oce. 9 in rupium umbrosarum fissuris montis Lizé et vallis Béost ; P. ce. § Vallon de Courbettes et Forét de Lhieris, cespitibus Mnii serrati immixtum. The inflorescence of this species is truly diotcous *, and from the circumstance of female plants alone being found in the W. Pyrenees, and only male plants in the Central, it may readily be conjectured that no fruit was observed. § 7. TENELLA. 20. H. tenellum, Dicks. Cr. Fasc. 4. t.11. f. 12; M. P. 25. Hab. Z, in rouris rupibusgue calcareis circa Pau et B.-de-Bi- gorre. Mt. Ferrand, P. or. (Arnott !). § 8. Depressa. 21. H. silestacum, P. Beauv. Prodr. d’ Ath. p.70; Schwer. Suppl. t.94; M. P.46. H. repens, Poll. palat. ; Duby, Bot. Gall. ed. 2. P. 2. p. 562. Hab. Z,_, ad truncos putrescentes per Pyrenzeos precipue oc- cidentales. In the Pyrenees I never observed this species but on rotten wood, but in Dec. 1847 I met with it on soft sandstone in Arncliffe Wood, Eskdale. All the other British specimens I have seen belong to the following species. 22. H. Miihlenbecku, Schimp. ! mst. Hab. Z2_3 in terra rupibusque subhumidis, rarissimum. Lac de Séculéjo. Inter pagos Luz et Baréges. 23. H. depressum, Bruch ! in Bot. Zeit. 1824, p. 763. A. con- fertum var. €. depressum, Brid. Br. Univ. 2. p. 767. Hab. Z, P.c. Vallon de Serris, ad rupes caleareas. * Planta mascula foeminea tenuior. Flores sparsi, cauli ramisque solute adherentes. Folia perich@iialia sub-10, externa minuta, lanceolata, interna ovata brevi acumine, omnia serrata, enervia. Antheridia 2, ovalia, brevi- pedicellata, singula paraphysibus 2 stipata. 18* 276 Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepatice of the Pyrenees. This species is abundant in woods on calcareous soil near Castle- Howard, but is always sterile. 24. H. elegans, Hook. Muse. Exot. t.9; Schwgr. Suppl. t.282warp Forses. To Richard Taylor, Esq. Dear Sir, Tue interesting letter I herewith send you relates to the curious little bivalve mollusk Kellia rubra, upon the animal of which some important observations were communicated by Mr. Alder to the number of the ‘ Annals ’*for September last. In the 15th part of the ‘ History of British Mollusca, by Mr. Hanley and myself, full use is made of Mr. Alder’s notes, and also of valu- able manuscript notes on the Kelhe kindly communicated to us by Mr. Clark. The discrepancies between the statements of dif- ferent observers as detailed in our work have induced Mr. Clark to turn his immediate attention to the subject, and the results are contained in the following letter. Their value is such that I grudge the delaying of the communication of them to the public until the conclusion of the ‘History,’ when we mean to add abundant new matter in supplementary notes. I need scarcely say that the statements of Mr. Clark go towards confirming the union of Recluz’s genus Poronia with Kellia, the view taken in the ‘ History of British Mollusca.’ M. Deshayes’s drawing of the animal of Kellia Geoffroyi (in the Mollusques d’Algérie) exhibits the same conformation of tube observed by Mr. Alder first and since by Mr. Clark in Kellia rubra. Most truly yours, Epwarp Foresgs. 7 Norfolk Crescent, Bath, My pear Sir, 7th March, 1849. It gives me pleasure to have it in my power to send you what I think is a correct account of the malacology of Kellia rubra. After I had written to you on the 4th instant, I became dis- satisfied, and I determined to make an attempt at once to settle the point, as to the tube of Kellia rubra being open underneath or otherwise ; for which purpose I wrote to a friend to obtain from certain rocks, four miles from Exmouth, a parcel of Fucus 294 Mr. W. Clark on the Animal of Kellia rubra. pygmeus, and send it to Bath in a moist state with a small phial of sea-water. It arrived yesterday by the post, and I found therem twelve specimens of Kellia rubra, which being placed in a watch- glass in sea-water showed themselves as lively as if examined at Exmouth. By the superior appliances used I at once saw what Thad overlooked at Exmouth, and that Mr. Alder is perfectly right in stating the tube to be open below; all the animals repeatedly inserted the foot into the canal, and by thus displacing its sides, showed distinctly it was an open fold of the membrane ; but the moment the foot was withdrawn, it reverted to its usual perfect tube-like aspect ; indeed the most accomplished observer might be deceived, as it appears M. Philippi was. In fact this canal is a mere prolongation of the mantle, which is entirely open for more than half the ventral range, for the working of the foot and byssal apparatus. But Mr. Alder is mistaken in supposing the tube-lke fold to be for branchial purposes; no currents, at least branchial ones, enter therein or issue therefrom; it is a fold merely subservient to locomotion ; this I perceived to be the case in a very short time, as I found the movements of the foot and tube-like canal to be nearly isochronal and dependent on each other, as when the foot was extended and fixed for a forward movement, the tube was also exserted, and by its muscular retractive power, m contemporaneous action with the foot, the shell was advanced in progression. It will now be asked, where then is the branchial aperture? This I have also satisfactorily discovered ; it is the posterior opening which has passed for the anus, and is in reality a considerable elongated oval fissure, having its periphery shghtly thickened or margined, and divided from the rima magna of the byssus and foot by a strong, narrow, transverse septum; from the termination of-this opening the mantle is closed to the um- » bones ; within this fissure I distinctly saw a part of the points of the branchia, and it was regularly dilated and contracted as the currents of sea-water were received, and after aération of the cir- culating fluid expelled, in a similar manner to the action of systole and diastole. I must now speak of the anus, which I had also the good fortune to discover ; it is placed at the posterior end of, and under the branchial aperture, and is a very minute, and for a part of its length, a disunited pendulous tube ; its orifice is not one-tenth part of the size of the branchial opening; from this internal tube I repeatedly saw the rejectamenta expelled in small cylindrical light yellow or grayish pellets, which, fallmg within the cavity of the fissure, were mstantly ejected ; this oval aper- ture cannot even be called sessile, it is only a slit, serving as a common canal, for supplying the branchiz with water and for the passage of the feces ; these are the only fwo openings in the Mr. F’. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 295 mantle, one for the foot, and one in common, for branchie and anus. It must not be supposed that I have mistaken the functions of this fissure, and that it only belongs to the anal apparatus. This is not the case; it is beyond doubt a common cavity for two distinct purposes, viz. anal and branchial. Thus this apparently strangely-formed animal turns out to be very similar to most of the bivalves, having the branchial and anal openings close together, where they ought to be, at the posterior end, and the anterior tube-like fold being nothing more than an aid to the foot im locomotion. I should not be at all surprised if the tube of Kellia suborbicularis, when closely examined (as it shall be), turns out to be an open canal; but whether this is the case or not, it is not for branchial, but locomotive uses. From this examination it results, that the only essential dif- ference between the two species is, that the one is viviparous and the other oviparous. You will now be able to judge if the genus Poronia must be adopted. In the twelve specimens no young were found, asin the summer- time; I therefore conclude that “ Alma Venus,” as Lucretius styles the goddess, does not influence the self-sufficing loves of these roollusca until apie ** species patefacta est verna diei, Et reserata viget genitabilis aura Favoni.” I am, my dear Sir, most truly yours, Eid. Forbes, Esq. WIiLiiaM CxiarK. XXX V.—Descriptions of Aphides. By Francis Watxer, F.L.S. [Continued from p. 53.] 61. Aphis Ribis. Aphis Ribis, lann. Syst. Nat. ui. 733. 1; Faun. Suec. 975 ; Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat.1. 2201; Fabr. Syst. Ent. 734.5 ; Sp. Ins. ii. 385 ; Ent. Syst. iv. 211. 7; Syst. Rhyn. 295. 7; Frisch, Ins. ii. 9. t. 14; Réaum. Ins. mi. 281-350. t. 22. f. 7-10; Hausm. II]. Mag. 1. 437. 2; Leuwenh. Arc. ep. 90. 545. t. 548; Blanck. Ins. 164. t. 14. f. D. 2; Schrank, Faun. Boie. i. 1. 108. 1195; Sir Oswald Mosley, Gard. Chron. i. 628; Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 39. 26. Ribifez, Amyot, Ann. Soc. Ent. 2™¢ série, v. 476. This Aphis feeds on Ribis rubrum, R. nigrum, R. alpinum, R. grossularia, and R. uva crispa, from March till November. The viviparous wingless female. In the sprmg and when very young it is dark olive-green, oval, short, and plump: the feelers 295 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. are yellow with brown tips, and not half the length of the body : the eyes are black : the nectaries are white, and about one-twelfth of the length of the body. Ist var. The body is mottled with paler green : the feelers are nearly all white: the eyes are dark brown. 2nd var. The nectaries are pale green with brown tips, and about one-seventh of the length of the body. It attains its full size in April, and is then greenish yellow, oval, convex, and slightly hairy above: there is a rim on each side of the body, and two vivid green lines along the back: the feelers are almost white with the exception of four black rings, and hardly half the length of the body: the mouth is very pale green; its tip and the eyes are brown: the nectaries are pale straw-colour with brown tips, and about one-sixth of the length of the body: the legs are very pale green; the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown. 3rd var. Yellowish green. 4th var. Grass-green. | 5th var. The limbs are white; the feelers are more than half of the length of the body, and the nectaries are about one-fifth of its length. 6th var. Bright yellow: the limbs are white: the feelers are alittle shorter than the body: the eyes, the tip of the mouth, and the feet are black : the nectaries are one-fourth of the length of the body. 7th var. In the autumn and when it is young it is pale yel- low and half transparent: the tips of the joints of the feelers, the tip of the mouth, and the feet are black. When full-grown it is yellow, convex, smooth, shining, oval, or nearly elliptic : the feelers are a little shorter than the body: the eyes are red: the nectaries are whitish with black tips, and about one-sixth of the length of the body : the legs are whitish ; the knees are gray ; the feet and the tips of the shanks are black. - 8th var. Like the preceding, but the body is almost white. 9th var. Like the preceding, but with a lively green stripe down the middle of the body. 10th var. The feelers are much longer than the body. 11th var. Bright yellow: the limbs are pale yellow: the fecl- ers are a little longer than the body ; the tips of their joints, the eyes, and the tip of the mouth are black : the nectaries have black tips, and are as long as one-fifth of the body: the knees and the tips of the shanks are gray: the feet are black. 12th var. Greenish white. 13th var. Nearly white. It varies much in breadth and in outline ; some of the insects are slender and spindle-shaped, others are stout and elliptical or Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 297 oval. During the spring and the early part of summer it abounds under the red swollen leaves, and like many of the clustermg species is the favourite food of the grubs of the ladybirds and of the Syrphi. The viviparous winged female. While a pupa it is pale green ; the limbs are almost white ; the feelers are as long as the bodv ; the tips of some of the joints are pale brown: the eyes are dark red: the nectaries are rather more than one-fifth of the length of the body : the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown. lst var. Greenish white. 2nd var. Nearly white. 3rd var. Grass-green. 4th var. Bright yellow, nearly elliptical, and having a vivid green stripe along the back : the eyes are red: the limbs are pale yellow or almost white. The wings are unfolded in May, and the insect is then yellow and slightly varied with green: the head, the chest and the breast are brown: there is a large black spot near the tip of the abdomen, and a row of small black spots on each side : the feelers are brown, and longer than the body: the eyes are black: the mouth is pale yellow with a black tip: the nectaries have also black tips, and are nearly one-fifth of the length of the body: the legs are dull yellow; the feet and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are black: the wings are colourless, and very much longer than the body: the wing-ribs are very pale yellow; the wing-brands and the veins are brown. 5th var. The head and the chest are buff: the abdomen is pale green varied with darker colour: the feelers are black, pale green towards the base; the base of the third joint is pale yel- low: the eyes are dark brown: the tip of the mouth is brown: the nectaries are pale yellow with brown tips, and nearly one- fourth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow ; the knees, and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are brown: the wing-ribs are pale green; the rib-veims are buff; the wing- brands are dark buff. 6th var. The head, the chest and the abdomen are black : the feelers are black, yellow at the base, and a little shorter than the body. 7th var. Yellow: the back of the head is brown: the chest is streaked with dull red: there are transverse black spots with dark green edges on the back of the abdomen: the feelers are black, and a little longer than the abdomen: the nectaries are pale yellow, and about one-eighth of the length of the body. 8th var. Yellow: there is a broad brown band across the fore-chest : the middle-chest is brown : the breast is black: the abdomen has a large quadrate black spot on its disc, and a row 298 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. of small black spots on each side: the feelers are black, and nearly as long as the body: the mouth is pale yellow; its tip and the eyes are black: the nectaries are spindle-shaped, dull yellow, darker towards the base and at the tips, and hardly one-fifth of the length of the body: the legs are pale yellow ; the hind-thighs, excepting the base, the feet, and the tips of the other thighs and of the shanks, are black : the wing-ribs, the rib-veins, and the wing-brands are pale yellow; the other vems are pale brown. This, like its predecessor, the wingless female, almost disappears during some part of the summer and the au- tumn, but a solitary little individual may still be seen here and there beneath the leaves. The oviparous wingless female. This lives im October and in the beginning of November, when it lays its eggs on the shoots of the currant : it is elliptical, olive-green, mottled with pale yel- low : there is a large green spot on each side of the abdomen by the nectaries : the feelers are yellow, black towards the tips, and longer than the body: the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip and the eyes are black: the nectaries are pale yellow with black tips, and as long as one-fourth of the body : the legs are pale yellow ; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black; the hind-shanks are shaded with pale brown. 1st var. Yellowish green. 2nd var. Yellowish white. 3rd var. A black band round the middle of each hind-shank. The winged male. It pairs with the oviparous female before the end of October. The head and the chest are black: the abdo- men is dull yellow, with a few short slight bands across its back : the feelers are rather thick till near their tips, and almost as long as the body: the mouth is yellow with a black tip: the nectaries are black, and as long as one-sixth of the body: the legs are yel- low ; the hind-thighs, the feet, and the tips of the other thighs and of the shanks are black : the wing-ribs are yellow ; the wing- brands and the veins are brown. 1st var. The fore-chest beneath its borders above, and the ab- domen are dull greenish yellow; the latter has a row of black dots on each side: the nectaries are as long as one-eighth of the body : the hind-thighs are pale yellow towards the base. 62. Aphis Galeopsidis, Kaltenbach. Aphis Galeopsidis, Kalt. Mon. Pflan. 1. 35. 23. This is a very elegant insect : it is hairy like A. Avellane and A. tetrarhoda, but in other characters it differs widely from these two species. It feeds from February to October on Galeopsis tetrahit, G. bifida, Lamium album, L. purpureum, L. amplexicaule, Polygonum Persicaria, P. lapathifolium, P. hydropiper, P. laxi- Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 299 sporum, Heracleum sphondylium, Plantago lanceolata, Stachys syl- vatica, Tussilago Farfara, T. petasites, and Potentilla anserina. The ‘front is hairy and somewhat notched : the first joint of the feelers has on the mner side of its tip a slight process which is most developed in the wingless female. It is common in the neighbourhood of London and of Lancaster, and Mr. Hardy has found it near Newcastle. The viviparous wingless female. This is small, hairy, elliptical, rather narrow and flat, almost transparent, white or tinged with a very pale green or straw-colour: the eyes are dark brown: the mouth is white with a black tip, and reaches the middle hips: the feelers are slender, setaceous, hairy, much longer than the body ; their tips are brown ; the fourth joint is much shorter than the third; the fifth is shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is rather more than one-fourth of the length of the fifth; the seventh is nearly as long as the third: the eyes are black : the nectaries are rather more than one-fourth of the length of the body ; they are somewhat thicker towards the tips which are black: the legs are long, slender and hairy: the feet are black. The young are nar- row and linear. It is infested by an Allotria. Ist var. Pale green with two rows of transverse vivid green spots along the back. 2nd var. The nectaries are not more than one-twelfth of the length of the body. ord var. The feelers are rather longer than the body: the nectaries are about one-ninth of its length. Ath var. The body and the limbs are white : the eyes, the tips of the feelers, of the mouth, of the nectaries and of the feet are black: the nectaries are one-sixth of the length of the body. 5th var. Very pale rose-colour, or pale yellow tinged with pale red, not shining: there is a deep red stripe down the middle of the body: the head is white: the feelers are white, and much shorter than the body; the tips of some of the latter joimts are black: the mouth is white; its tip and the eyes are black: the nectaries are white with black tips, and about one-sixth of the length of the body: the legs are white; the tips of the feet are black. 6th var. Greenish white with two very large vivid green spots near the base of the nectaries. 7th var. The body is white: the feelers are a little longer than the body: the eyes, the tip of the mouth, and the tips of the shanks and of the feet are black: the nectaries are nearly one- third of the length of the body. 8th var. The body is pale yellow: the feelers are black towards the tips, and a little longer than the body: the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip and the eyes are black : the nectaries are also pale 300 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. yellow with black tips, and about one-third of the length of the body : the feet are black. The viviparous winged female. While a pupa it resembles the wingless female in colour, and the rudiments of its wings are white, but when these organs are unfolded it is pale greenish yellow : the feelers are black, pale green at the base, and as long as the body: the fourth joint is much less than half the length of the third ; the fifth is shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is as long as the fifth; the seventh is as long as the fourth: the eyes are dark red: the mouth is pale green ; its tip is black: the dise of the chest and that of the breast are dark green : the abdomen is very pale yellow with transverse broken bright green bands : the nectaries are pale yellow, and nearly one-sixth of the length of the body ; their tips are black : the legs are pale greenish yel- low, long and slender; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black: the wings are colourless, and much longer than the body; the wing-ribs and the rib-veins are pale yellow, the wing-brands are nearly colourless: the veins are brown ; the first and the second veins diverge, but the second and the third are nearly parallel to each other ; the first fork of the third vein is a little before one-third and the second after two-thirds of its length; the fourth vein is much curved, and the angle of the brand whence it springs is very slight. Ist var. Dull yellowish green: the feelers are brown, white towards the tips: the disc of the chest and that of the breast are black : the abdomen is pale yellowish green, and on its disc there are a few small green marks and one large square dark green spot : the nectaries are pale yellowish green, and nearly one-fourth of the length of the body ; their tips are black : the wing-brands are very pale brown. 2nd var. Pale greenish white: the feelers are much longer than the body ; their tips are white: the discs of the head, of the chest and of the breast are brown or black, and there is also a brown or black spot on each side of the chest : the abdomen is traversed by black bands ; the first and the second are narrow ; the third and the fourth are broad: the eyes are dark brown: the nectaries are nearly white, and not more than one-tenth of the length of the body : the legs are pale yellow ; the tips of the thighs are brown; the feet and the tips of the shanks are black : the wing-ribs are white; the wing-brands are gray; the veins are black. The pupa is all white except the eyes and the feet which are brown. 3rd var. While a pupa the chest is buff, and the rudimentary wings are white. 4th var. While a pupa it is pale greenish yellow or pale saffron, long-elliptic, rather flat, smooth, not shining: there is a green Mr. F, Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 301 stripe along the back, or a white stripe with a black line on each side of it: the feelers are pale yellow, pale green at the base, black towards the tips, and much shorter than the body: the rudimentary wings are pale green : the mouth is pale yellow ; its tip and the eyes are black: the nectaries are nearly as long as one-sixth of the body; their tips are black: the legs are pale yellow ; the thighs are pale green ; the tips of the feet are black. The oviparous wingless female. The body is pale yellow, ellip- tical, and convex: the abdomen is lengthened behind : the feelers are black towards their tips, and a little shorter than the body ; the tip of the mouth and the eyes are black: the nectaries have black tips, and are as long as one-fourth of the body : the knees, the feet and the tips of the shanks are also black. Ist var. The body is red: the limbs are pale yellow : the feel- ers are black towards their tips, and as long as the body: the tip of the mouth and the eyes are black : the nectaries have black tips, and are as long as one-fourth of the body: the feet and the tips of the shanks are black. Length of the body 1 line ; of the wings 23 lines. 63. Aphis Abtetina, n.s. The viviparous wingless female. This is oval, green, convex, rather dull, and half a line in length: the head and the limbs are paler and sometimes tinged with yellow: the front of the head is convex in the middle, but concave on each side, from whence there is a small protuberance extending to the base of the feelers: the feelers are brown towards the tips and about half the length of the body; the inner side of the first joint is convex, and has no process; the fourth joint is more than half the length of the third; the fifth is much shorter than the fourth; the sixth is a little shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is longer than the sixth: the eyes are dull red: the tip of the mouth is brown: the nectaries have brown tips, and are about one-fourth of the length of the body, which has a slight rim on each side of the back : the legs are moderately long ; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are brown. The young ones are as usual narrow, flat, and linear, and have short white limbs. In 1846, a year remarkable for the mildness of the winter and of the spring, it had attained its full size before the end of January, and was very abundant near London beneath the leaves of the spruce-firs, some of which were stripped of their foliage in consequence of its attacks. It does not disappear before the latter part of November. The viviparous winged female. This form comprises the second generation, and in 1846 its wings were unfolded before the end 302 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. of March. It is green: the dise of the chest and that of the breast, the feelers, the tip of the mouth, the tips of the nectaries, the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are brown: the feelers are more than half the length of the body; the fourth joint is very much shorter than the third; the fifth is a little shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is shorter than the fifth; the seventh is a little longer than the sixth; and the nectaries are about one-sixth of the length of the body : the wings are colour- less and about twice the length of the body: the wing-ribs and the brands are green, and the veins are pale brown ; the first and the second veins diverge much from each other, but the second and the third veins are nearly parallel ; the latter has its first fork after one-third and its second fork a little before two-thirds of its length ; it is more or less obsolete at the base ; the fourth vein is much curved, and the angle of the brand whence it springs is hardly perceptible. Variations of the wing-veins.—I1st var. The lower branch of the first fork of the third vein is wanting. Length of the body 3 line; of the wings 24 lines. 64. Aphis Rosarum, Kalt. Aphis Rosarum, Kalt. Mon. Pflan. i. 101. 76. This species feeds on Rosa centifolia and gallica in gardens, and Mr. Hardy has forwarded to me specimens found on Rosa spinosissima in October near Newcastle. The viviparous wingless female. This little species appears on the rose (Rosa centifolia and gallica) m the beginning of March or later, and is then dull green, paler beneath, rather flat, and very long: the feelers are rather more than one-fourth, and the nectaries are about one-seventh of the length of the body: the eyes are brown : the legs are short and stout. During its growth it acquires a brighter green hue, and then the limbs are almost white: the front of the head is very convex in the middle: the first joint of the feelers has a slight protuberance on the inner side of its tip; the fourth joimt is shorter than the third, but longer than the fifth ; the sixth is a little shorter than the fifth ; the seventh is much longer than the sixth. It much resembles A. Capree. [st var. Whitish green, with two vivid green stripes along the back. 2nd var. Whitish green, with two bluish green stripes along the back. The viviparous winged female. Is black : the fore-chest is green, having in front a blackish green band which is sometimes broad and sometimes narrow: the abdomen is green; each segment is traversed by a black band and has a black spot on each side: the Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 303 feelers are black, rather thick at the base, and about half the length of the body : the fourth joint is about half the length of the third; the fifth is shorter than the fourth ; the sixth is much shorter than the fifth, but more than half its length ; the seventh is as long as the fourth: the mouth and the nectaries are black, and the latter are about one-eighth of the length of the body : the thighs and the shanks, especially of the fore-legs, are dull pale yellow towards the base: the wmgs are colourless, and much longer than the body ; the wing-ribs are pale yellow ; the brands are pale brown, and the veins are darker; the second vein di- verges from the first, but is nearly parallel to the third, whose first fork is a little after one-third, and its second fork long after two-thirds of its length. 1st var. The thighs and the shanks are yellow with black tips. 2nd var. Black: the abdomen has interrupted gray bands above, and is very dark green beneath: the feelers are nearly as long as the body : the mouth and the nectaries are dark green ; the former has a black tip, and the latter are about one-sixth of the length of the body: the legs are dull buff; the thighs are pale yellow ; their tips and those of the shanks and the feet are black. Variations in the wing-veins.—1st var. With no second fork in one wing. 2nd var. The third vein has not two forks, but is divided into three branches. The oviparous wingless female. Very small, yellow, narrow, long, spindle-shaped, rather flat, and not shining: there are two green stripes along the whole length of the back : the limbs are pale yellow: the feelers have black tips, and are about half the length of the body : the tip of the mouth, the eyes, and the tips of the nectaries are black, and the latter are as long as one-fourth of the body : the legs are moderately long ; the knees, the feet, and the tips of the shanks are black. The winged male. Appears in September and October, and pairs in the latter month with the oviparous female: it is small and black: the borders of the fore-chest and the fore-breast are pale green: the abdomen is green: the feelers are as long as the body: the mouth is pale yellow with a black tip: the nectaries are dull green with black tips, and as long as one-sixth of the body : the legs are pale yellow ; the feet and the tips of the thighs and of the shanks are black : the wing-ribs and the rib-veins are pale yellow ; the wing-brands and the other veins are pale brown. lst var. The borders of the fore-chest and the fore-breast are dark green: the abdomen has a row of black spots on each side: the mouth is dull yellow with a black tip : the nectaries are black : the four hinder thighs excepting the base are also black. Length of the body # lne; of the wings 2 lines. 304 Mr. F. Walker’s Descriptions of Aphides. 65. Aphis Avellane, Schrank. Aphis Avellane, Schrank, Faun. Boic. 112. 1207; Kalt. Mon. Pflan. 143. 116. This species clusters on the stalks and shoots of Corylus Avel- lana, whereas A. Coryli is scattered on the leaves of that tree. The viviparous wingless female. The body is oval, convex, hairy, pale green, and varies im breadth : the front is bristly, and has a protuberance in the middle, and one more slight at the inner base of each feeler: the feelers are pale yellow and very much longer than the body ; the tips of the joints are brown ; the first and the second joints are bristly, and the third is also so to a less degree ; the fourth joint is a little shorter than the third ; the fifth is as long as or longer than the fourth ; the sixth is less than half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is more than four times the length of the sixth: the mouth reaches the hind hips, or very near thereto, and even much beyond them in the young insects : the nectaries are green, and full one-fourth of the length of the body ; they are slightly tapering from the base to the tips: the tip of the abdomen does not form a tube: the legs are pale yellow, very long and hairy ; the shanks are very slightly curved ; the fore- legs are but little shorter than the hind-legs; the feet and the tips of the shanks are brown: the young ones in the body some- times amount to twenty or upwards. 1st var. The feelers are a little shorter than the body ; the fifth joint is longer than the fourth; the sixth is full half the length of the fifth ; the seventh is about one-third of the length of the sixth. 2nd var. The seventh joint of the feelers is about five times the length of the sixth. ord var. The body is rose-colour. Ath var. The body is lilac-colour. The viviparous winged female. While a pupa it resembles the wingless Aphis in colour: the rudimentary wings are pale green, and when they are unfolded, the head and the dise of the chest have a darker colour: the wings are colourless, and much longer than the body ; the second vein diverges rather more from the first than it does from the third; the forks of the latter are inconstant in length, and sometimes the situation of their source varies in the opposite wings of the same insect ; the fourth vein is but slightly curved, and the angle of the brand whence it springs is extremely slight. Length of the body 1 line; of the wings 3 lines. [To be continued. } Zoological Society. 305 PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. May 9, 1848.—W. Yarrell, Esq., V.P., in the Chair. The following communications were made to the Meeting :— 1. Novick oF A NEW SPECIES OF MonkKEY FROM ANGOLA, LIVING IN THE GARDENS OF THE Society. By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. Erc. The Society has recently procured a Monkey from Angola, which bears some resemblance to the Diadema Monkey which M. F. Cu- vier erroneously described and figured as the female of Cercopithecus Diana, but it differs from that species in the lips being black, like the face, and only covered with very short whitish hairs ; and also in being much darker coloured; and this blackness has increased since it has been in the possession of the Society and obtained a better fur. At first sight I thought that it might be a melanism of some other species; but on comparing my notes with the specimens in the British Museum collection, I am convinced that it is different from any I have before had the opportunity of examining. It belongs to the division of the genus Cercopithecus with rounded whiskers formed of annulated hairs, which have no beard, a variegated Sur, and black nose and lips, and is easily distinguished from the species of that division by its dark colour and broad frontal band. I propose to call it . The Pluto. Cercopithecus Pluto. Sp. ch. Black; the hair of the broad frontal band, ringed with white; the large rounded whiskers, the back, the upper part of the front of the sides, and the base of the tail, ringed with varying greenish white; the distal half of the tail black; the face and lips black, with short, scattered white hairs. Inhab. Angola. This species is easily known at first sight by the deep black colour of the back of the head, and limbs, and the broad white frontal band: the large mantle-like patch of minute, white, grisled hairs on the back, and the large size of the black and white ringed whiskers, giving the whole animal a very striking appearance. The tail at this time is not in very good condition, and the end appears to have been destroyed. 2. OBSERVATIONS ON SOME Brazitian Bats, WITH THE DESCRIPTION oF A NEw Genus. By J. E. Gray, Esa., F.R.S. ere. Having lately received from Hamburg a collection of Bats from Brazil, containing several species which I have not before seen, I beg to lay some observations on them before the Society. I may premise that they were all named, on what authority I know not, and referred to described species, but several of them do not agree with the specimens which I have received with the same names before, nor with the original descriptions. Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. i. 20 306 Zoological Society. ARCTIBEUS LEUCOMUS, nN. sp. Grey brown, paler beneath; axilla whitish; tuft of hair on the side of the neck, near the shoulders, pure white; hair of back grey brown, with darker tips; the arms, and upper and lower surface of membranes near the sides, hairy ; the interfemoral membrane rather wide, hairy above; nose-leaf ovato-lanceolate, longer than broad, with a thick midrib; ears rather large, rounded; tragus oblong, toothed on the outer side. Inhab. Brazils. I received this specimen under the name of Phyllostoma brevicau- datum, but it cannot be of that species, as it has no appearance of any tail. It agrees with P. Neuwied’s figure in having a rather wider interfemoral membrane than the other Arctibei, but it differs from it in the membranes being much more hairy, and in the absence of the peculiar white, epaulet-like spots. Length of tarsus 73"; foot 5'’; wing-bone 1" 5!’; thumb 6!”, NYcTIPLANUS, 0. g. Tail none; interfemoral membrane none; head short; nose-leat lanceolate, erect; lower lip entire, with a triangular group of warts in front; cutting teeth 2; ears lateral, separate; tragus denticu- lated; wings broad; index finger one-jointed, middle finger four- jointed; thumb elongate, lower joint short, inclosed, upper jeint elon- gated, slender, free; feet moderate, toes equal, compressed. This genus has the same kind of nose-leaf as Phyllostoma, but dif- fers from all the genera with that form of nose-leaf in having no interfemoral membrane. In this character it agrees with Diphylla and Stenodema; but these genera only have a scarcely elevated nose- leaf. NyYcTIPLANUS ROTUNDATUS, Il. Sp: Dark brown, beneath paler; hair yellowish brown, with dark tips ; of the under side paler, with pale tips; of the sides of the body dark blackish brown; the fore-arm above and below, and the upper part of the wing-membranes near the body and on the side of the legs hairy; nose-leaf ovate, lanceolate, about as long as broad; apex acuminated ; ears rather acute, naked; tragal lanceolate, acute. Inhab. Brazils. Length of wing-bone 1" 73'"; tarsus 81!"; foot 5/"; thumb 5!”". I received this specimen under the name of Phyllostoma rotunda- tum, which is probably the MS. name of some German zoologist. 3. DescRIPTION OF ANEW Heron. By Joun Goutp, Esa., F.R.S. ETc. ETC. ARDEA LEUCOPHAA, Nl. Sp. Forehead and upper portion of the crest white; sides of the head and lower portion of the crest deep glossy black ; neck white, washed with vinous, and with a series of lanceolate marks of black disposed alternately down the front; all the upper surface, wings and tail dark grey, the lanceolate feathers of the back fading into white; edge of Zoological Society. 307 the wings buffy white; primaries and secondaries dark slate-colour ; flanks and under surface of the wing grey ; chest and abdomen white, separated from the grey of the flanks by a series of black feathers ; under tail-coverts and thighs white ; bil! yellow; tarsi olive. The young differs in having the whole of the crown of the head black; all the upper surface greyish brown; and the under surface striated with brown and white. Total length 38 inches; bill 7; wing 19; tail 7}; tarsi 5. Hab. India and Australia. Remark.—Having carefully compared examples of this species with the Common Heron of Europe, I find it differs from that bird in being altogether of a larger size, and that the line of the bill, in- stead of being straight, has an upward tendency ; in other respects they are very similar. 4. Ow tue Hasits or Mazouya aciuis. By P. H. Gosse. In the parts of Jamaica with which I am familiar, this pretty, active little Scink is abundant. It is most numerous in the lowlands, and on the gently-sloping hills of moderate elevation that form the cha- racteristic feature of the southern side of that beautiful island. The fences there are largely composed of ‘ dry-wall,’ built of rough un- hewn stones, without cement. On these walls the Mabouya may be seen crawling, and often lying quite still in the sunshine; when alarmed it darts with lightning-like rapidity into one of the crevices which abound in all parts of such a structure. Indeed it rarely ventures far from some refuge of this kind, and I presume that the facilities for instant retreat afforded by these pervious walls are the chief cause of its preference for them. It is scarcely ever seen on the ground, except when avoiding danger; nor on the trunk or branches of trees or shrubs; but in the concavity of a pinguin leaf (Bromelia pinguin) it is occasionally observed to lie, basking in the sun. The rounded form of the head and body, devoid of projections; the close-lying and glossy scales ; the shortness of the legs, bringing the belly flat upon the ground; and its constant habit of resting with the chin on the ground also, give to the Mabouya an aspect very much unlike that of our other common lizards, and cannot fail to remind even the least observant of its affinity with the serpent-tribes. The negroes, in the recognition of this proximity, doubtless, have be- stowed upon it the appellation of ‘ Snake’s waiting-boy,” or more briefly, ‘‘Snake-boy.” In the parishes of St. Elzabeth’s and West- moreland it is also frequently called the ‘‘ Woodslave,” though in other parts of the island this term seems to be applied to some of the Geckotide. From the shortness of its legs results also another resem- blance to a snake, for owing to the shortness of the steps, if made only with the legs, it throws the shoulder and the hip forward at each step; and this throwing-out of the sides at different parts alternately produces a wriggling motion, somewhat serpentine in appearance. The Woodslave is not very easily captured alive: the hair-noose so successfully used in taking our other small lizards I have always 20% 308 Zoological Society. found to fail, if tried on this species; for though it is not difficult to pass the noose over the head (the reptile allowing this so long as its assailant’s approaches and motions are deliberate and gentle), it is instantly slipped off again, because there is no sensible contraction behind the occiput, and the scales lie too smoothly to afford the slightest hold. ‘They are too wary and too swift to be caught by the hand. A smart tap with a switch, however, across the shoulders or the back disables them for awhile; but if the blow descend on the tail, that organ instantly separates, with the like brittleness, as in other lizards. Cats not unfrequently catch them. The form of the scales and the manner of their apposition remind us of the fishes : they are convex above, concave beneath, are slightly attached to the skin, and lap over each other at the edges. The colours of the animal are produced by pigment deposited on the under surface of the scales, which in a scale recently removed is soft, and readily rubbed off: the skin beneath is black. The scales, which are subpentagonal, are marked with a series of regular lines, indented on both surfaces, connected by transverse ones, somewhat like the nervures in the wing of an insect; they lose themselves before they reach the hinder edge. The pigment is deposited in the centres of the areas formed by the lines. The scales from the back and from the belly are alike; but the postreme two-thirds of the tail are covered, both on the upper and under surfaces, by narrow transverse plates, which do not essentially differ however from the other scales, except in having a greater number of 4 scale, magnified. parallel depressed lines. The beautiful provision for protecting the eye without impeding vision, shown by the lower (and larger) eyelid having a sort of win- dow, a transparent, glassy, circular plate in its centre, immediately opposite the pupil when the eye is closed, is well-worthy of admira- tion as an obvious example of creative wisdom and providential care. Habitually darting to and fro in the narrow crevices of walls and heaps of stones, the eyes of the Woodslave, if unprotected, might be continually liable to injurious contusions, while as it feeds on the insects, at least in part, that resort to such situations, undimmed vision would be essential to it while permeating them. The Woodslave is viviparous. I first became aware of this fact by the dissection of a specimen killed on the 11th of February, in the abdomen of which were several oval sacs, about half an inch long, composed of a soft, transparent, very tender membrane, which dis- played a foetus within each, far advanced to maturity. And on the 29th of April I killed another female, the abdomen of which was very much dilated: in this specimen I found four young, quite matured, and fully coloured, with a brilliancy indeed superior to that of the adult : they were enveloped in two sacs, but each foetus was inclosed in its own amnios besides, a very delicate membrane in which it lay coiled up; the vitellus not quite absorbed, but attached by the funis to the belly. ‘There was also a portion of the tail of a fifth foetus, the body of which had probably been forced from the abdomen of the Zoological Society. 309 parent, through the wound which killed it. The young measured, from the muzzle to anus, 1,4; inch; thence to extremity of tail 1,9 inch. These two specimens, displaying the contents of the abdomen in situ, are now, with other specimens of both sexes, in the British Museum. I afterwards found that this fact had not escaped the observation of the indefatigable Robinson; for, on consulting his manuscript vo- lumes in Kingston, I met with the following notes, recorded nearly a century ago :—‘‘ No author that I have met with has observed that any animals of the Lizard-kind are viviparous; yet I have by accident discovered that the smooth Snake-lizard of Jamaica brings its young forth alive. Mr. Long having caught one of these alive, tied it all night upon a table with a thread, and in the morning found a young one or two lying near the other, which was a full-grown one. Being at a loss to account for this, as imagining that all the Lizard-kind were oviparous, he called upon me to know my sentiments. It ap- peared very plain to me that this animal was viviparous; nor does this seem strange to me, when I consider that some of the Serpent- kind are also viviparous, viz. the Viper and Rattle-snake. «Some time in August 1760, as I was looking over a parcel of preserved lizards, finding amongst the rest one of these Snake-lizards full-grown, with the belly very much distended, in which state they may be often seen,—I took my penknife, and endeavoured to cut the abdomen open, but found it so well defended by a covering of very small hard scales, like those of a fish, that my knife would not enter till I had scraped them away, when opening the abdomen | found two beautiful young ones, about two inches long.”’ (Rob. MSS. iv. 47.) The stomach is a lengthened sac. In specimens that I examined I found small cockroaches, fragments of crickets, &c., insects which live in heaps of stones. In one specimen I observed a few slender, rather short, intestinal thread-worms, loose among the abdominal viscera. Sloane’s ‘ Lacerta minor levis’ (tab. 273. fig. 5) is certainly the present species, and is not a bad representation. His description, however, like most of his zoological notes, is full of confusion and error. He says, ‘‘ This is bigger than the former [which I think to be the female of the Purple-tailed Anolis*], smooth, having a great many brown spots, otherwise much the same [!], laying a very small, white, hard-shelled egg (fig. 6) [which is however the egg of a com- mon little Spheriodactylus}, nestling in rotten-holed trees [here he confounds it with Gecko rapicauda|, leapmg from one bough to another [here with the Anoles]; ’tis very common among old pali- sades, &c.” It is very evident to me that Sloane’s zoological notes were but in a slight degree the result of his own observation; he trusted to the loose reports of negroes and others, generally correct of something or other, but very often misapplied, the local names and habits of widely different species being huddled and mingled together in almost inextricable confusion. That fruitful source of error, the application of the same names to different species in different (and * TI hope to describe this species in a future memoir.—P. H. G. 310 Zoological Society. sometimes in the same) localities, to which I have alluded in my ‘ Birds of Jamaica,’ p. 177, against which a naturalist should always be on his guard in a foreign country, appears to have misled our venerable naturalist. Nor does it seem to me disrespectful to the name of that great man thus to expose his mistakes, since I feel able to speak positively, from long-continued and familiar personal obser- vation, and because precision in the narration and application of facts is of the highest importance in natural science. I subjoin a description, noted from the living animal. Head, neck and fore-part of back, reddish brown, bronzed ; a broad band of black runs from the muzzle on each side, inclosing the eye, and passing down to the hind-leg; this band is bounded, both above and below, by a band of yellowish white, gradually becoming obsolete between the fore- and hind-leg; each of these pale bands is again bounded by a line of black, more or less interrupted or maculate, the superior of which extends along the tail; lower back and tail, greenish brown ; whole under-parts greenish white, silvery ; upper surface of the limbs and feet black, with pale confluent spots. ‘The whole animal reflects a metallic gloss. ‘There is no appreciable difference in the sexes. Dimensions of one measured, a gravid female, of rather large size :—Length, muzzle to anus 3,7, inches; tail 52: total nearly 9 inches. Muzzle to eye 5 in.; muzzle to ear ,’, in.; muzzle to front of fore-leg 1,2, im.; axilla of fore-leg to front of hind-leg 2 in.; fore- leg, from axilla to tip of claws, ;% in.; hind-leg 1,3, in. This is the only species of Mabouya that [ found in Jamaica. Is M. Sloaneit (Dum. et Bib.), which is ascribed to the same island, really distinct ? June 13.—Harpur Gamble, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. 1. Description oF TraGEeLaruus AnGasiI, GRAY, WITH SOME Account oF Irs Hazsits. By Grorcr Frencu Aneas. This new and brilliant Antelope, the Inyala of the Amazulu, ap- pears to be a link between the Koodoo and Boshbok, uniting in itself the markings and characteristic features of both these animals. The adult male is about 7 ft. 6 in. in total length, and 3 ft. 4 in. high at the shoulder. Though elegant in form, and with much of the grace of the solitary Koodoo, the robust and shaggy aspect of the male bears considerable resemblance to that of the Goat. Legs clean; hoofs pointed and black, with two oval cream-coloured spots in front of each fetlock, immediately above the hoof. Horns 1 ft. 10 in. long, twisted and sublyrate, very similar to those of the Boshbok, but rather more spiral; have sharp polished extremities, of a pale straw-colour; rest of horns brownish black, deeply ridged from the,forehead to about half the length of the horn. Prevailing colour greyish black, tinged with purplish brown and ochre; on the neck, flanks, and cheeks, marked with several white stripes like the Koodoo; forehead brilliant sienna-brown, almost approaching to orange ; mane black down the neck, and white from the withers to the insertion of the tail. Ears 8 in. long, oval, rufous, tipped with black and fringed inside with white hairs; a pale ochreous circle Zoological Society. 311 round the eyes, which are connected by two white spots forming an arrow-shaped mark on a black ground; nose black; a white spot on each side of the upper lip; chin and gullet white; and three white marks under each eye; neck covered with long shaggy hair, extending also under the belly and fringing the haunches to the knees ; two white spots on the flanks, and a patch of long white hair on the anterior portion of the thigh; a white tuft under the belly, and another on the dewlap; on the outer side of the fore-legs is a black patch above the knee surrounded by three white spots; legs below the knee bright rufous colour; tail 1 ft. 8in. long, black above, with tip and inside white. Female smaller and without horns; total length 6 ft.; nose to insertion of ear 10 in.; length of ear 63 in.; height from fore-foot to shoulder 2 ft. 9in.; tail 1 ft. 3in. in length. Colour a bright rufous, inclining to orange, becoming very pale on the belly and lower parts, and white inside the thighs; a black dorsal ridge of bristly hair extends from the back of the crown to the tail; nose black ; the white spots on various parts of the body nearly resemble those of the male, only the white stripes on both sides are more numerous and clearly defined, amounting to twelve or thirteen in number ; tail rufous above and white below, tipped with black. The young resembles the female, but is rather paler in colour, and has more white spots on the flank and sides. Inhabits the lower undulating hills scattered with Mimosa bushes, that border upon the northern shores of St. Lucia Bay, in the Zulu country, lat. 28° south. Found in small troops of eight or ten together, feeding amongst the thickets. Mr. Gray has named this species after my father, George Fife Angas, Esq., of South Australia, who has always taken a lively in- terest in my travels and researches in natural history. I may add, that the preceding notes were drawn up from recently-killed speci- mens, which I in vain attempted to purchase from the Boers who possessed them. 2. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF Popica. By G. R. Gray, Esa., F.L.S. etc. The bird now laid before the Meeting forms a second species of the genus Podica, Less., the type of which, P. senegalensis, is peculiar to Western Africa. It was obtained from Malacca, and thus extends the range of this singular group, Heliornine, to a third quarter of the globe. The only species known until of late years, which is the type of the subfamily (Heliornis surinamensis), exists in the warmer parts of the American continent. Popica PERSONATA, N. sp. Sp. ch.—Upper parts olive-brown ; top of the head, lores, cheeks and jugulum, deep black; back of neck bluish olive; a short white streak borders the black from the posterior angle of the eye; the lower surface white; breast tinged with brown; the side-feathers faintly, and the under tail-coverts deeply, barred with brown; the Hl 4 Miscellaneous. quills and tail deep brown; bill yellow; the feet lead-colour, and the membrane that borders the toes yellow. Total length, 20 inches; bill, 2 inches and 2 lines; wing, 10 inches ; tarsi, 1 inch and 10 lines. It differs from the typical Podica in having a portion of the lores naked, in the greater breadth of the tail-feathers, and in their being rather rigid. The only specimen I have seen, from which this description and the drawing have been made, was presented to the British Museum by the Right Hon. the Earl of Ellenborough. MISCELLANEOUS. On Polycotyledonous Embryos. By M. P. Ducuarrre. Since Jussieu, by a happy application of a principle first asserted by Ray, has taken the characters furnished by the embryo for the basis of the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, aJl the ques- tions relating thereto have become highly important. The first of these characters is that deduced from the number of the cotyledons, according to which all embryonal plants have been divided into mo- nocotyledons and dicotyledons. ‘This number is nearly always, in fact, one or two; but according to the majority of botanists, it exceeds two in the embryo of a small number of plants to which the denomination of polycotyledonous has been applied. By a remark- able peculiarity these plants are distributed among several families and also genera of which the majority of species have the more fre- quently but two cotyledons ; whence it has been considered impossible to establish for them a special class. ‘The object of this memoir is to examine if these plants are really provided with several distinct cotyledons, or have only two which are deeply divided into a variable number of lobes. I first show by several examples that the cotyledons, or the seminal leaves of the dicotyledonous plants, have a very marked tendency to divide on their median line, in various degrees, sometimes so deeply as to cause each cotyledonous lobe to be wrongly considered as constituting a distinct cotyledon. Amongst other facts, I have de- scribed and figured germinating plants of Dianthus chinensis, Linn., which show all the degrees of division from the slit of one of the seminal leaves to the complete division of each one of the two into two nearly independent lobes. I also show by a series of different states, that the embryo of the Macleya owes to a division of its cotyledons the remarkable appearance which has caused it to be de- scribed as possessing sometimes from three to four cotyledons. I nevertheless observe that, in some very rare cases, the binary whorl of cotyledons may become ternary ; of which examples are enume- rated. I then pass to those embryos the cotyledons of which are normally bipartite, and describe the development of that of Amstnkia and their germination. I show that the two cotyledons of these plants, sim-~ Miscellaneous. 313 ple at their first appearance, each very soon develope two equal lobes ; and that, from this moment until when the two seminal leaves have attained their complete development, it becomes more and more evident that each of them is only divided in the direction of the medial line. A complete analogy of development and organization induced me then to study the embryo of Schizopetalon Walkeri, Sims., to which Mr. Robert Brown, in the ‘ Botanical Register,’ tab. 752, and recently M. Barnéoud, have assigned four distinct and separate cotyledons, contrary to the opinion expressed by Mr. W. Hooker in the ‘ Exotic Flora,’ tab. 74. I show that the embryo of this plant passes through a series of analogous states to those which I have mentioned in Am- sinkia ; that its germination resembles that of the latter plant, al- though the division of each of its two seminal leaves into two lobes is still deeper ; lastly, I adduce in support of these facts those which the anatomical structure furnishes, and I show that in the germina- tions of Schizopetalon we find two fibro-vascular bundles which cor- respond to the undivided portion of the two cotyledons, and which, higher up, separate into two branches, each destined for one of the two cotyledonary lobes. This singular genus of Crucifere should consequently be removed from the list of polycotyledonous plants. After having taken a glance at the species of Canarium and Aga- thophyllum, the embryo of which appears to have but two cotyledons, each divided into three or more lobes, I come to those Coniferze that have been considered to possess several cotyledons, and in which it is generally agreed the type of the polycotyledonous embryos is found. ‘This opinion was admitted in science on the authority of Gertner, Salisbury, L. C. Richard, and M. A. Richard. It is en- tirely opposed to that expressed by Adanson and Jussieu, who state that these Coniferze have but two cotyledons deeply divided into a con- siderable number of long narrow lobes. Although this latter view has been abandoned by modern botanists, I have attempted to prove that it alone is based on facts. After having discussed the objections which have been raised against it by Gertner and M. A. Richard, I deduce from a careful examination of the embryo in seventeen dif- ferent species, and of that of the germination in some of them, the following results. The pretended multiple cotyledons of the Firs, and of the genera in which the embryo is organized on the same plan, are not verti- cillate, that is to say, arranged regularly in a circle around a point. On the contrary, they always occur divided into two opposite groups, absolutely placed like two ordinary cotyledons. In each of these two groups, the appendages which have been regarded as distinct and separate cotyledons, and which I regard only as lobes, are ge- nerally pressed one against the other, whilst a very marked space exists between the two groups, sometimes large enough to occupy, towards the centre, about a third of the total diameter of the embryo. Often, and particularly in the case where the lobes are numerous, the embryo is compressed in the direction of the breadth of the two cotyledons. Viewing the embryo from the top, the pretended mul- ola « Miscellaneous. tiple cotyledons are frequently seen ranged in two parallel lines, and these two lines are then separated one from the other by a very visible slit. This intercotyledonary slit is continued to the two opposite sides of the embryo, where it is easily recognised by its greater size, especially in some species (Pinus pinaster, Solan., Pinus excelsa, Wall., &c.). In certain cases these two opposite lateral slits gradually descend lower than those interposed between the lobes; the assertion of Jussieu therefore, although too much generalized, was based on facts. To recognise, in these doubtful cases, the ar- rangement of the cotyledonary lobes into two groups, the best plan is to make with a very sharp instrument, a transverse section towards the middle of the lowest cotyledons; the remaining basilary portion evidencing clearly, in almost every case, the arrangement here de- scribed. To these facts furnished by the adult embryo, I add others taken from the germination and phyllotaxy. M. Lestiboudois has likewise recently been led, by observations on anatomical phyllotaxy, to admit that all the Coniferze are dicotyledonous. The species of Ceratophyllum have been and are still described as possessing four unequal cotyledons in pairs. But the observations of M. Schleiden, with which mine agree on nearly every point, have sufficiently shown that it is an error arising from the first whorl of plumular leaves, and which always appear binary, having been con- founded with the two cotyledons. After having removed from the category of polycotyledonous plants nearly all those admitted as such, there remains in my opinion but some species of Persoonia which should provisionally be referred to this group, upon the authority of Mr. R. Brown, and respecting which I am unable to form an opinion owing to want of material.— Comptes Rendus, xxvii. p. 226. Preparation of Pineapple Fibres in Singapore for the Manufacture of Pina Cloth. Some time ago we observed, in the neighbourhood of Batu Blyer, a number of Chinese labourers employed in cleaning the fibres of pineapple leaves for exportation to China. As we believe this to be a new and promising branch of industry in this settlement, where numerous islets are covered by the pineapple, it would be well to draw the attention of the Chinese and Bugis frequenting or inhabit- ing these islets to the subject. The process of extracting and bleaching the fibres is exceedingly simple. The first step is to re- move the fleshy or succulent side of the leaf. A Chinese, astride on a narrow stool, extends on it, in front of him, a pineapple leaf, one end of which is kept firm by being placed beneath a small bun- dle of cloth on which he sits. He then with a kind of two-handled plane made of bamboo removes the succulent matter. Another man receives the leaves as they are planed, and with his thumb-nail loosens and gathers the fibres about the middle of the leaf, which enables him by one effort to detach the whole of them from the outer skin. The fibres are next steeped in water for some time, after Miscellaneous. 315 which they are washed in order to free them from the matter that still adheres and binds them together. ‘They are now laid out to dry and bleach on rude frames of split bamboo. The process of steeping, washing, and exposing to the sun is repeated for some days until the fibres are considered to be properly bleached. Without further preparation they are sent into town for exportation to China. Nearly all the islands near Singapore are more or less planted with pineapples, which at a rough estimate cover an extent of two thousand acres. The enormous quantity of leaves that are annually suffered to putrefy on the ground would supply fibre for a large manufactory of valuable pina cloth. The fibre should be cleaned on the spot. Fortunately the pineapple planters are not Malays, but industrious and thrifty Bugis, most of whom have families. These men could be readily induced to prepare the fibres. Let any mer- chant offer an adequate price, and a steady annual supply will soon be obtained.—From the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, No. 8, Aug. 1848. Advantages accruing from the Study of Entomology. To estimate in their true extent the important bearings of Ento- mology on our pecuniary interests, we must not confine our attention to the hundreds of thousands of pounds which we annually lose from the attacks of the hop-fly, the turnip-flea, the wire-worm, the weevil, and the host of insect-assailants of our home agricultural and horti- cultural produce, but we must extend our views to our colonies, and we shall there find that in Australia the potato crops (as we learn from Mr. Thwaites) are in some quarters wholly cut off by the potato-bug ; that in the West Indies, in addition to the numerous and long-known insect-enemies of the sugar-cane, a new pest of the Coccus-tribe, sent us by Dr. Davy, has lately attacked it in Barbados, and the cocoa-nut trees in the same island have nearly fallen a sacri- fice to a minute Aleyrodes referred to by Sir Robert Schomburgk ; while in India the cotton crops are often seriously injured by insects of various tribes, whose history we have yet to learn ; and in Ceylon, the Governor, Lord Torrington, states, in a letter addressed last year to Earl Grey, so serious have the attacks of the “ Coffee-bug”’ (a species of Coccus or scale-insect, said to be allied to C. Adonidum) proved for the last few years to ‘the coffee-plantations, that the pro- duce of one estate, which had in former years been 2000 ewt. of coffee, fell suddenly to 700 ewt. wholly from the destruction caused by the bug; and a similar heavy loss as to other coffee-plantations is confirmed by Mr. Gardner, who speaks of the insect as not con- fining its ravages to these, but spreading to other trees and plants, as limes, guavas, myrtles, roses, &c., so that in the Ceylon Botanic Garden there is scarcely a tree not in some measure affected. It appears highly probable, from facts collected by Mr. Gardner, and quoted in the ‘ Gardener’s Chronicle’ of Oct. 7, 1848, p. 667, that this coffee-bug was introduced into Ceylon with some Mocha coffee-plants brought from Bombay ; and it is equally probable, as 316 Miscellaneous. Dr. Lindley suggests, that had the foul plants been all burnt, or dipped in hot water, so as to kill the bugs, the Ceylon coffee-planters might have been saved from their present painful position. But why were not these precautions taken? Simply because these coffee-planters are wholly ignorant of entomology. When Kalm, the Swedish naturalist, descried specimens of Bruchus Pisi disclosed in a parcel of peas he had brought from North America, he was thrown into a state of trepidation lest some of these pestilent insects should have escaped, and he should have been thus the unconscious in- strument of introducing so great a calamity into his beloved country. And had the Ceylon coffee-planter, to whom these infected Mocha- plants came, possessed a far less amount of entomological knowledge than Kalm, he would have carefully examined them, aware how easily a new insect-pest may be introduced from a foreign country, and of what vital importance it is that it should be ascertained that such introduced plants are free from disease, or thoroughly cleansed from it, if present. Here we have a further striking instance how desirable it is, as I have before contended, that some instruction in Natural History, and in Entomology as a branch of it, should be universally given in all our schools, from the highest to the lowest. Not only may a landed proprietor at home suggest to his tenants, or a country clergyman to his flock, the best way of destroying their insect-ene- mies ; but if our middle classes, likely to become in the course of their emigrations to our colonies, now every year more extensive, coffee-planters in Ceylon, or cotton-growers in India, or general agriculturists in Canada, Australia, or the Cape, were taught some- thing at school of the history of these assailants, as well as the working-men who accompany or assist them, there can be no doubt that this branch of their school education would turn to far more pecuniary advantage than much of what is now taught them. In adverting to this subject in my last year’s Address, I pointed out how little merely “ practical”’ but unscientific men are qualified to cope with the insect-hosts that assail them on every side, and I quoted the remarkable instance, which cannot be too often repeated, of the 240,000/. a-year which M. Guérin-Méneville, the distinguished French entomologist, has saved the olive-growers of the south of France by teaching them a mode, founded on the economy of the olive-fly (Dacus Olee), of neutralizing the attacks of this pest, of which, in spite of all their practical skill, they were the annual victims to this large amount. I will conclude these remarks with referring to the prospect we now have of seeing our hop-plantations freed from their great destroyer the hop-fly (Aphis Humuli)—not from the efforts of the hop-growers, who considering it ‘‘a blight” brought by some cold wind or atmospheric change, fold their arms in helpless apathy ; but in consequence of the investigations into the history and economy of the insect by an eminent British entomolo- gist, Mr. Francis Walker*, who has attended very closely to this * Annals of Nat. Hist. 1848, vol. i. p. 373. Miscellaneous. 317 tribe. The difficulty in the case of the hop-aphis has always been to know where the eggs from which the flies proceed in spring, are placed by the gravid females in autumn. This could not be on the hop-plant, sii dies down yearly to the roots. But the mystery has been solved by Mr. Walker, who has found that it is on the sloe-tree or black-thorn (Prunus spinosa) that the female deposits her eggs in autumn, which are there hatched in spring, and the second generation being produced with wings, flies to the hop- plants and establishes itself on the leaves, which, owing to the well- known rapid increase of these insects, it soon covers and exhausts of the sap. Nowif the hop-aphis does not deposit its eggs on any other shrub or plant than the sloe, as Mr. Walker believes, it is evident that, to secure the hops in any district from the hop-aphis, it is only necessary to destroy all the sloe-trees, which, as they are found chiefly in hedges, and there in no great number, would be no difficult matter. And if, from the escape of a part of the sloe-trees, and the flight of some of the hop-aphides from distant quarters, a few of the female aphides were still found on the hop-plants in spring, nothing would be easier, as I ascertained by experiments in hop- grounds in Worcestershire in 1838*, than to clear them from every one of these assailants, at a very triflmg expense, by employing women and children, by means of step-ladders, to crush every aphis found, by pressing them and the leaf between the thumb and fore- finger, so as to destroy the flies without injuring the texture of the leaf. When it is considered that the extirpation of the hop-aphis would in some years save 200,000/. to the revenue, and three or four times as much to the hop-growers, it is evident that this is a matter worth attention, and that the science which can effect this saving is no triflmg one.—from the Address delivered by the Pre- sident W. Spence, Esq., F.R.S., at the Anniversary Meeting of the Entomological Society of London, Jan. 22, 1849. Description of a new Mexican Quail. By Witu1am Gamset, M.D. Ortyx thoracicus. With a full, somewhat pointed crest, the feathers of which are black, obscurely mixed with dull brown and rufous. Nape mottled with black and bright rufous, and traversed by two interrupted white lines, which commence of a cinereous colour about the front and pass over the eyes. Throat and cheeks pale cinereous, each feather with a narrow black margin. Sides of neck, breast and sides pale rufous ; deepest on sides of neck, where the feathers have a few scattered black spots. Lower part of belly and vent white. Under tail-coverts rusty white, mottled with black. Tail very short and rounded, its colour dark brown, with freckled irregular bars of rusty white. Lower part of back and upper tail- coverts irregularly variegated with different shades of gray, fulvous and black; upper part of back dark rufous, the centres of the feathers grayish, and traversed by fine, irregular, dusky lineations. Wings and scapulars beautifully variegated with black, rufous and gray ; * Introd. to Entomology, 6th edit., vol. i. p. 149. 318 Miscellaneous. wing-coverts and scapulars having the upper vanes deep black, mar- gined and lined with rufous, the lower vanes grayish freckled, and blotched with black, while the shafts are dull whitish. Tertiaries on their upper vanes with broad fulvous margins ; feet and legs pale; bill black; irides chocolate-brown. Length 8 inches, wing 5 inches, tail 2 inches, tarsus 1 53,ths, ridge of bill ;®,ths, from angle of mouth ths. This appears to be an undescribed species of that group of quails which so much resemble our common O. virginianus. 'The present however is readily distinguished from that species by its much longer bill and very short tail, as well as its general markings, particularly beneath ; the breast and sides being of a plain fawn-colour, or pale rufous. ‘The only specimen from which I describe was brought from Jalapa, Mexico, by Mr. Pease. It does not appear to be quite adult, and the markings about the head and throat may be somewhat dif- ferent in the old bird; still however its characters are sufficiently marked. Judging from description, it must very nearly resemble the O. pectoralis of Gould; but besides the difference of markings, he makes no mention of that species having a crest. The length of the bird, as well as of the wing, is in this also just one inch greater, which would hardly be the case in a young bird.—Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. iv. p. 77. Descriptions of two new Californian Quadrupeds. By Wiuu1am Gamset, M.D. Dipodomys agilis. Colour above yellowish brown, mixed with dusky ; beneath pure white, extending half-way up the sides. Head elongated, tapering from the ears to a sharp point. Ears nearly round, sparsely hairy. Eyes large, dark brown. A large pouch on each side of the head, opening externally on the cheeks. Both hind- and fore-feet with four toes and the rudiment of a fifth. The hind- legs very long and strong. ‘Tail very long, slender, covered with hair, and ending in a pencillated tuft. Length 10} inches, including the tail, which is 6} inches. 2 incisors. Dental system: Teeth eae ade 1s molars. y eaeDID) 2 incisors. 8 molars. In the upper jaw the incisors are divided by a longitudinal furrow. This beautiful Jerboa-like animal is an abundant inhabitant of the vineyards and cultivated fields of the Pueblo de los Angeles, Upper California. Like the other pouched animals, it forms extensive burrows, tra- versing the fields in different directions, and is only dislodged during the process of irrigation. They leap with surprising agility, sometimes the distance of ten feet or more at a spring, and are dif- ficult to capture. Mus californicus. Dark gray, lighter about the head and shoul- ders, above tinged with light brown, on the sides almost fulvous, 10 lower. Meteorological Observations. 319 beneath almost white. Fore-feet with four toes and the rudiment of a fifth. Hind-feet with five toes. Tail nearly 5 inches in length, pretty thickly covered with short rigid hairs. Head acutely conical ; ears large, rounded, thin, sparsely hairy, 1 inch in length and 3ths in breadth. Length of the body 43 inches. Old male: bristles of the nose 24 inches. I captured but a single specimen of this species in a field near Monterey, Upper California, which, with those of the former, I had the misfortune to lose.—Jbid. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR FEB. 1849. Chiswick.—February 1. Frosty: foggy: rain. 2. Drizzly: hazy: rain. 3. Hazy and damp : densely overcast. 4. Overcast. 5. Very fine: overcast. 6. Hazy : densely overcast. 7. Overcast. 8. Very fine: clear. 9. Fine: overcast. 10. Overcast : clear at night. 11. Clear: very fine : barometer unusually high : clear and frosty at night. 12. Frosty and foggy: fine: clear and frosty. 13. Dense fog: fine at noon: foggy. 14. Foggy: fine. 15. Very fine. 16. Foggy: clear at night. 17. Frosty: exceedingly fine. 18. Overcast. 19. Overcast: fine. 20. Slightly overcast: cloudy: rain. 21. Cloudy and fine: rain. 22,23. Fine. 24. Drizzly: rain: lightning in the evening: densely overcast. 25. Hazy: boisterous, with rain and thunder: constant heavy rain at night. 26. Cloudy and fine: frosty. 27. Frosty: cloudy and fine: clear. 28. Boisterous, with heavy rain.—On the 11th the barometer was higher than it has ever been observed in this locality. Mean temperature of the month ........... “pao mopaadcbe Siva st SESS, Mean temperature of Feb. 1848 ........sceseesseeseeee eeence ta OG Mean temperature of Feb. for the last twenty years ...... 40 *36 Average amount of rain in Feb. .......... ccevesvcnscccescsese 1°61 inch. Boston.—Feb.1. Fine. 2,3. Foggy. 4,5. Fine. 6,7. Cloudy. 8. Fine: rain p.M. 9—12. Fine. 13. Foggy. 14—17. Fine. 18. Cloudy. 19. Cloudy: raine.M. 20. Fine: rainr.m. 21. Cloudy. 22, 23. Fine. 24, 25. Cloudy. 26,27. Fine. 28. Rain: snow a.m. and p.m. Applegarth Manse, Dumfries-shire.— Feb. 1. Frost and snow: looking moist p.m. 2. Fog and drizzling all day. 3, Fog and drizzling. 4. Dull a.m.: drizzling raine.mM. 5. Still dull, but fair: cloudy and moist p.m. 6. Mild: cloudy: high wind p.m. 7. Rain during night: fair and clear. 8. Fair, but dull a.m. : rain p.m. 9. Fair early a.m.: rain at noon: rain r.m. 10. Fine morning: one shower: clear p.m. 11. Frost: fog: cleared pt. 12. Fair: slight shower: cleared. 13. Frost a.m.: clear: raine.m. 14. Fine spring day: dry throughout. 15. Fine: drying wind. 16. Frost: clear and fine: high wind ep.m. 17. Fair and clear: storm of wind. 18,19. Rainand wind. 20. Dull and moist. 21. Frost: rain and windp.m. 22. Dull a.m.: came on storm, windand rain. 23. Fair: slight frost: snow on hills. 24, Frost and snow: clear: freezing. 25. Hard frost: fine. 26. Very hard frost: hail-shower. 27. Hard frost. 28. Rain heavy : wind high, Mean temperature of the Month .........+.ssessesseseeseeee «2 41992 Mean temperature of Feb. 1848 ............ss.scescscoevcses 40 ‘1 Mean temperature of Feb. for the last twenty-five years. 37 °3 Raman heb Use bly reccscntnceseed